May Angels Lead You In
by heyjacquelynn
Summary: "Ne, Chibisuke." A boy about six looked over at his older half-brother."Yeah?" it came as a quiet, almost melodic question."Do you believe there is a place for everyone in the world?" Ryoma Echizen joins Rikkidai High School.Yukimura Seiichi/Ryoma Echizen
1. Chapter 1

Chapter I

"_Ne, Chibisuke." _

_A boy about six looked over at his older half-brother. His golden-olive eyes met his brother's darker brown and the boy blinked slowly in the sunlight._

"_Yeah?" it came as a quiet, melodic question._

"_Do... do you think there is a place for everyone in the world?" _

"_A place, aniki?" the younger responded, his forehead furrowing at his older brother's question. It wasn't often that his aniki got this way, but when he did, it usually meant something had upset the boy. _

"_Yeah, a place. Somewhere someone belongs no matter what." The elder elaborated. Despite the seriousness of the conversation, the elder remained nonchalant, his hands folded under his head, cushioning it against the already soft grass. He had long since looked away from his baby brother, his dark brown eyes returning to fixate on the stars that swirled above the two young boys. _

_It hadn't been the first time they laid out in the grass during warm summer nights, just like it wasn't the first time the elder boy asked the younger something far beyond a six year old's comprehension, but the boy responded regardless. _

"_I believe there is a place for everyone to make their own." _

"_A place to make your own, huh?" the elder boy questioned, his head rolling back to the right to stare at his younger brother. "What if there isn't a place?" he asked quietly. ____The younger of the two seemed to consider this, before tilting his head up a faction to continue to look at the stars._

_"____There will always be a place, aniki. There is no one person alive who is genuinely their own person. There is always someone out there with the same ideals, the same thoughts. Whether they are strong enough to voice them is what makes the places in the world. You just have to be strong, and let them know you're there." _

* * *

It didn't rain often in Japan, which seemed to favor blistering hot days and thick humidity, but rain it did. A cool rain that had seem to come from nowhere drenched the streets and homes. A boy stood under the overhang of the Tokyo National Airport, his suitcases at his feet, and his tennis bag slung tightly over his slim shoulders. He watched as the rain fell is thick drops, causing puddles to form along the road in front of him.

He didn't seem to mind the rain, while other rushed about, trying to find more secure cover, the boy simply stood under the small overhang, the wind occasionally showering him with a mist of cool water. Unconcerned, he adjusted the strap on his bag to fit more comfortably on his shoulder, before sticking his left hand out to signal a taxi.

Soon enough a white and green taxi pulled up as close to the curb as possible, and in a obvious display of reluctance to get out in the rain, the trunk of the taxi popped open with a jarring movement. The cabby made no move to leave the taxi. The boy didn't really care either way and picked his bags up from the damp cement and walked to the half open trunk. He deposited his bags, not even bothered that his clothes and body were now almost completely soaked. Walking to the backseat door, his slid into the taxi, shook his hair out, and gave the cab driver his destination.

* * *

The golden plate on the white brick fencing proudly proclaimed "Echizen Manor" in an elegant script. The cab driver issue a low whistle at the sight of the mansion. The boy himself tilted his head to see his new home, before shaking his head at it. He handed the cab driver his fare and extracted himself from the uncomfortable leather seats to retrieve his bags from the trunk of the car.

The boy sighed up at the mansion as the taxi drove away. He reached over and keyed in the code to grant him entrance beyond the black iron wrought gates that guarded the front.

"This house is bigger than the last." the boy muttered almost resignedly before continuing up with impressive walkway of the beautiful white bricked mansion. He distractedly noticed the beautiful white lilies the seemed to bloom in perfect order along the front of the home. Lilies were his favorite flower and he knew Niles had probably had them planted as an apology for them having to move again. He made a mental note to thank him for them, even if this was the sixth time he had had lilies planted for him at each different home.

The boy walked into the grand entrance and eyed the beautiful gray marble staircase that was elegantly coated with a dark blue plush carpet that hugged each step perfectly. Footsteps alerted the boy of an approaching person and he turned his head in a nonchalant manner.

"Young master. I apologize for not being present when you arrived." the majordomo of the staff said elegantly as he walked into the foyer.

"It's fine, Niles." the young man's washed over the grand entrance in a melodic tone.

"Thank you, young master. Allow me to carry your bags." Niles replied.

"After sixteen years of knowing me you still insist on calling me 'young master'. You're hopeless, Niles." the boy said softly, picking up his bags, making it clear that he would carry his own belongings.

"Ah, but you shall always be the young master to me. Perhaps it is because I've known you for sixteen years that makes me continue calling you that." the man reasoned good natured, a smile quirking upward. He watched as the young boy removed his shoes without untying them, as per his custom. The boy chuckled lightly at the comment and began to move up the stairs.

"Thanks for the lilies, Niles." He paused half way up the staircase to murmur quietly, "I missed you, Niles." The boy said in a rare show of emotion.

"I missed you as well, young master." the man replied truthfully, as he watched the boy continue to climb the stairs of his new home.

An elegant yet young hand reached out and turned the knob of his new bedroom door. He knew, before he even stepped foot in the room, that it would be painted cream with hints of black and greenish blue, just as his other rooms had been. Niles always tried to find the room in the house that was the same as his previous rooms as much as possible. Most the time he did a very good job of this, by keeping the colors the same and giving him the room that most architecturally same as his previous rooms, from previous homes.

The door opened without protest and he surveyed his new room. As per the usual, the room was very large. An elegant platform rose about three feet off the ground with steps built into the foot of the platform. As he stepped closer he noticed that his king sized bed fit perfectly into a drop down in the platform, making the top of the mattress at perfect level with the squared of platform. The platform itself was painted the same cream color that seem to dominate the room, while the bed was made up entire of beautiful black dressings, including silk sheets and a goose-feathered down comforter.

The rest of the room was a blinding white with black Victorian framing. Every shelf, and there were a lot of them, was built into the walls and was painted black. A six door, full length mirrored closet dominated one wall, while a large bay window with a equally large, plush window seat took up another wall. He set his bags down near the door and continued to survey the room. A black door was on the same wall of the elegant mirrors of his closet, and he knew that that meant he had his own bathroom, as per the usual. A large flat screen tv was mounted on the wall near the window and a large black couch sat across from it. Along the final wall there was a large, framed area that was left completely open and led to another room. Walking through the large doorway he encountered what he knew would be his favorite room.

The walls were made up of large minimally spaced windows, causing the entire room to look as though it was made entirely from glass. The ceiling domed upward as though and elegant ballroom. The thin strips of wall that encased the windows were painted cream, while the ceiling was a black. The room itself was beautiful, yet it was what the room contained was what made this the boys new favorite room. Sitting in the middle of the room was a black baby grand piano. It's elegant top was raised, and a black, oak bench was set before it.

Ignoring the fact that he was still rather damp from the rain, the boy sat himself down at the piano and began to play.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter II

"_Ne, Chibisuke?" _

"_Yeah?" _

"_Have you ever wanted something so bad, but you couldn't get it?" _

_The boy that was now eight looked over at his brother. Tears streamed down the elders tanned face, while the eyes that were so much like his own, were trained on the ebony casket in front of them. The eight year old shifted his gaze from his brother to the blue-gray waves that were crashing elegantly over the rocks on the cliff. He watched as a bird, a swallow, took flight, soaring above the water and seemed to glow in the setting sunlight. _

"_Yes. Yes, I have." the boy responded before gently taking his brothers hand in his own. _

* * *

"Young master. Young master, you must wake up."

Said boy simply grunted and turned over, pulling the covers higher around his head, determined to ignore the flustered maid.

"Please, young master. You will be late for your first day of school!" the maid begged. The boy grunted and rolled over onto his back. His impressive eyes opened sleepily and he dragged a hand through his black hair, the emerald tingeing from the sunlight moving across different strands as the boy's hand moved. He pushed his body up into a sitting position, the blankets sliding down to his waist to reveal his naked, muscular chest.

"I'm awake. You may leave." the boy said tiredly. The maid rushed out and he sighed. A yawn escaped his mouth, as he rubbed tiredly at his eyes. Despite being in Japan for roughly three days, the time difference still had him thrown off, making the young man want to curl back up under his warm covers, and ignore the fact the the sun was up, and he had school. None-the-less he dragged himself out of his bed and to the bathroom.

It had been awhile since Rikkidai had gotten a new student. Being a prestigious private school, not many people transferred in, especially a quarter into the first semester. But like all schools, new students were simply something that happened, and at the idea of someone new, the student body was buzzing with curiosity.

"I don't see what's the big deal." Marui Bunta complained to his doubles partner Jackal. "So we get another student who is mediocre and probably can't even play tennis. I don't see why everyone is so excited." he whined as he popped his favorite gum. Jackal remained silent, but Rikkidai's resident baby, Akaya Kirihara, had plenty to say.

"Exactly!" he whined, "I bet he's ugly too! Another ugly, talent less, mediocre brat who probably thinks he can rule the school because his daddy got him into Rikkidai."

"Akaya." Seiichi Yukimura said softly, "We shouldn't judge before we met the new student."

"Chances of Kirihara being correct is 87.32%." Yanagi cut in.

"Still…" Yukimura said, his voice soft. His gaze shifted to Genichiro Sanada, his best friend and fukubuchou, half expecting him to say something. When he remained silent, Yukimura smiled his beautiful smile and gently pushed his blue-violet hair away from his feminine face. _"I hope Akaya's not correct." _Yukimura thought, _"I could use someone interesting to spice things up."_

_It wasn't until lunch time that any of the Tennis Club Regulars heard any news about the new student. __The freshmen class was practically salivating over the new boy. Word spread like crazy. 'Beautiful, smart, graceful, talented.' the words were repeated over and over again. Apparently, the boy had made a very big impression. Unfortunately, none of the regulars had seen the boy. _

"So, I was wrong." Kirihara sniffed disdainfully, "Yanagi was off to! He said I was most likely right!" he pouted.

"Incorrect. I said there was a 87.32% of you being-" Yanagi started.

"Whatever. 87.32% means most likely." Kirihara said, dismissing the data.

"Akaya." Yukimura scolded lightly, "It's impolite to cut Yanagi off like that. Apologize."

"…Sorry." the boy grumbled, his arms crossing over his chest, scowling at being scolded by his buchou.

By the time tennis practice came around, the tennis club regulars knew a bit more about the new boy, including that he played tennis. A student had spotted his tennis bag when the new boy had opened his locker to get his books. The boy was apparently rather anti-social, and was already a big love interest for girls and boys alike. By this point, Kirihara was seething. Yukimura knew that because of Kirihara's drive to be number one, the idea of another tennis player, whether he was good or bad, made him furious. It didn't help that he was still mad at being wrong and that everyone was already besotted with the boy.

"Yukimura-buchou." Kirihara marched up to him at the beginning of practice. "Let me play him. Show him what it will mean to join our tennis team." Kirihara demanded passionately.

"Akaya." Yukimura said rather tiredly, bringing his hand up to massage lightly at the tension that was building behind his eyes. "We can't have you hurt at any point. The Kanto Tournament is coming up, and we will need to be at our best."

"I won't get hurt. It's just a first year." Kirihara snorted, "Besides, he needs to understand that by joining Rikkidai's tennis team it won't mean he can just play around."

"He has a point, buchou." Yanagi murmured from his spot near Yukimura. They watched as Yukimura sighed and gave Kirihara a nod.

"Very well."

* * *

The boy showed up just on time, and Yukimura saw that the school rumors not done the boy justice. Beautiful did not cut it, breathtaking was the word that came to mind when Yukimura saw the boy. His black hair was not as long as his own, and fell around his head in a mussed up manner. The sun pulled a beautiful emerald tinge from the locks, while his sharp bone structure captivated Yukimura. But what truly pulled him in was the boys eyes. They were an amazing golden color that leaned more towards green than brown. Not only the color was odd, but the boys eyes held a vast amount of white space, rather than being completely dominated by the pupil. His long eye lashes and slight tilt to his eyes gave him the look of a cat.

Yukimura watched as Kirihara walked up to the boy and challenged him to a match. The boy smirked, his cupid's bow of a mouth curving upwards as he surveyed Kirihara. The boy nodded, unbuttoning his uniform jacket to reveal the standard issue white button up underneath. He walked to an open court, rolling up his shirt sleeves as he went. A crowd began to form around the court as the boy pulled out a black and silver racket, as well as a white Fila cap. Yukimura stood next to Sanada, who looked as disapproving as ever. "Have to admit; most gorgeous boy I've ever seen." Yukimura heard Marui mutter as the boy pulled the cap over his eyes and walked to the net where Kirihara waited.

"His bone structure _is_ rather amazing." Yanagi murmured, mostly to himself as he pushed his glasses higher on his nose. Yukimura couldn't have agreed more.

* * *

"Which?" Kirihara asked, his racket in hand.

"Smooth." a soft melodic, and slightly bored voice came past the beautiful boys plump lips. The racket spun and landed.

"It's rough. I'll serve." Kirihara said, his face split into a wicked grin.

"Suit yourself." the boy murmured walking to the baseline, not the least bit worried.

They watched as Kirihara got a demented look in his eye before his fingertips dug into the ball. Knuckle Serve. Kirihara was serious, his need to be seen as number one driving his tennis. The ball soared and he hit with all his might sending the ball streaking across the court. Suddenly, the ball skidded back into Kirihara's court before anyone could so much as blink.

"Ne, ref. Are you going to call it?" the boy said from his spot at the baseline after a moment of silence.

"F-fifteen- love." the ref stuttered, almost unsure.

Kirihara growled as he grabbed another ball, and served again, only to have the ball smash into his court and fly past him again. His head whipped from the ball that lay behind him, to his opponent. The boy hadn't moved an inch.

"Thirty-love." the ref was quicker this time, his call coming only a moment later.

It continued like this. No matter what Kirihara did, he couldn't seem to get a single point. Kirihara aimed for the boys knees, ankles, wrists, face, anything to harm the boy enough for him to pull ahead, but the boy managed to easily side step everything, not even sweating in his school uniform. The game ended, six-love, in the youngers favor, Kirihara not having made a single point.

"Who _are _you?" Kirihara asked as he panted.

"Echizen. Echizen Ryoma." the boy paused, then, " Mada Mada Dane."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter III

"_Ne, Chibisuke?"_

"_Yes?"_

"_Have you ever wanted to get away?" the older boy asked, his hand fisted tightly on his pant legs. He curled his body tighter to itself._

"_Get away?" the younger asked. He watched as sun slowly set, as it slowly sunk below the surface, reminding him that the world was indeed spinning. _

"_Yeah. Go somewhere else. Get away from it all. Never come back." _

"_Never? Never is an awfully long time." the younger boy responded. _

_Yukimura Seiichi was startled. Ayaka had lost. Soundly. Typically he would only lose to Sanada, Yanagi, or himself. Yet, this boy, this Ryoma Echizen, had beat him without Kirihara gaining a single point. There wasn't much he could do about it, seeing as how he had agreed to let Kirihara challenge the boy. Stopping the match would have made a worse statement than allowing Kirihara to lose. Rikkiadai was always about finding the best there was, and honing the skill, never allowing a loss on the courts. Stopping the slaughter of one of their best players would have contradicted that at it's very core. Yukimura glanced over at his other teammates. After the incident, they had called a team meeting, assigning practice swings to the younger years and non-regulars._

_He watched as Marui bounced energetically around Ayaka, provoking the boy further, while the more reserved members simply took their spots and watched as Niou moved over to join Marui._

"Mada Mada Dane." Niou taunted, pulling off a rather mediocre look of Ryoma Echizen.

"SHUT UP!" Kirihara screamed, growing more and more angry.

"Kirihara." Sanada growled.

"But fukubuchou!" Kirihara protested.

"No, Ayaka. You lost to the boy you were so sure you would beat. This is what happens when you let your guard down. You allowed yourself to think you better than an unknown opponent, now you face the consequences. While Marui and Niou have no right to tease you, you also have to accept this." Sanada said, "Use this to better your self."

"So… what are we going to do about this?" Jackal asked after a moment, his arms folded over his chest.

"Well isn't it obvious?" Marui asked before snapping his gum loudly, having given up on taunting Kirihara, "We hold a ranking tournament."

"Freshmen are not allowed to join the ranking tournaments." Yanagi pointed out helpfully.

"You three did." Niou pointed out helpfully.

"That's different." Sanada pointed out.

"How?" Jackal asked.

"Well… " Sanada started before trailing off. Apparently he was having a hard time deciding an excuse.

"I don't have a problem with it." Yukimura suddenly said. His teammates turned to him and watched as he crossed his arms over his chest pulling the jersey he wore more closely over his shoulders.

"Buchou?" Mauri asked.

"Let him participate in the ranking tournament. The worst that will happen is he loses, and stays on as a normal student. If it goes well… then we have a new regular and either he, or someone else goes on reserve." Yukimura reasoned.

"There is a 76% chance of the boy becoming a regular." Yanagi said.

"Then it's settled. Ranking tournaments will take place in two days. Dismissed." Sanada said.

Ryoma signed as he walked into his room. It was still too bare for his tastes and he returned to the task of making it look more like home. Ryoma had performed this task quite a few times, and each time he asked himself why he bothered. He knew that chances were he'd be moving again in roughly a year.

He gently began to unpack all of his memories, each one captured in Polaroid printout. His hand ran gently along a picture of him and his brother. In the picture a 5 year old Ryoma laughed, his head turned to face his older brother, who had been laughing down to his younger brother. Ryoga's hand was placed on top of Ryoma's head and Ryoma's far hand gripped his brothers pants, holding on gently. Ryoma sighed quietly, _'Aniki.'_

Each picture that Ryoma unearthed held a different memory for Ryoma. Most held silly random pictures of him and another person, while some were just snapshots of random things that reminded Ryoma of a specific day or event that held meaning for him. Slowly, Ryoma began to tack the small Polaroid's in clean perfectly even rows along the wall the held his bed.

'_Memories…' _Ryoma thought as the wall slowly filled up. _'That's all these are.'_

* * *

The day of the ranking tournaments came quickly. As expected, many other teams showed up to watch the matches, especially since word had traveled that for the first time since Yukimura, Sanada and Yanagi, a freshman was participating in the matches. Hyotei, Seigaku, even Fudomine showed up, players milled around the gates of the courts, loud and energetic, as they waited for it to begin.

Yukimura made a point to talk to all the captains, greeting them and making mild small talk, his ever-present smile in place.

"Keigo. I'm surprised to see you here." Yukimura said happily as he approached the Hyotei captain.

"Ore-sama heard you had a freshman trying out this year. Ore-sama would not miss this." he replied, flipping his perfectly styled purple gray hair. "Speaking of which, where is he? None of the freshman Ore-sama has seen today seem strong enough." Yukimura chuckled lightly.

"Echizen-kun has decided to warm up else where, saying only that he'd be back in time for his first match." Yukimura replied.

"Else-where?" a voice interrupted. They turned to see Tezuka Kunimitsu and his ever faithful team coming up beside Hyotei, which, when you consider Kikumaru Eiji and Gakuto Mukahi hating each other, probably wasn't the best idea.

"Yes, he simply insisted that he would be back later." Yukimura said again.

"So, no one knows where this freshman rookie is?" Syuusuke Fuji asked. Yukimura was always rather fond of Fuji, their personality so very similar.

"No. Though I have no doubt that he'll be here on time." Yukimura responded simply. Then, as if unable to resist, his gaze shifted from the teams in front of him to the young boy that had just walked into the vicinity. Ryoma Echizen, no matter how many times Yukimura had seen the boy over the past two days, still seemed to take his breath away. There was something about the boy… Yukimura shook his head. "Speak of the devil." he said, his smile widening. He watched as the others in the crowd turned to get a good look at the boy who was playing in the ranking tournaments.

"Oh. Oh my." he heard Fuji murmur. "He's rather…"

"Beautiful?" Yukimura supplied. He knew this was what they were thinking. He watched the varying degrees of awe and interest flickered across the two teams faces. Even the ever-stoic Seigaku buchou's eyes seemed to widen at the sight.

"Yes. I suppose beautiful would fit perfectly for him." Fuji continued, "Do you think he'd model for me?" he asked, his eyes not moving from Ryoma.

"Saa… I wouldn't know." Yukimura hummed, "He doesn't really talk to anyone. So far all we know about him is his name, what grade he is in, that he plays tennis, and is, reportedly brilliant." Yukimura chuckled.

"Ore-sama demands an introduction." Keigo declared, his body swiveling back around to Yukimura.

"Very well. Echizen!" At the sound of the Rikkidai's voice the younger male turned and faced the group. "Come here for a moment." The boy looked ready to refuse, before walking nonchalantly to his buchou.

"Yes?" Ryoma's melodic voice slid past his lips.

"Echizen, these are players from other schools. This is Hyotei, and their buchou, Atobe Keigo." Yukimura gestured, then turned to Tezuka, "And this is Tezuka Kunimitsu and his team, Seigaku." they watched as Ryoma sized them up and let out a low, 'hehhh.' His lips slid up into an arrogant grin before saying, "Nice to meet you." in a polite yet somehow mocking tone.

"Echizen- Marui game, report to court B."

Ryoma inclined his head and smirked at them, "Excuse me, I have a match." the boy said softly, before moving past them to the assigned court.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter IV

"_Ne, Chibisuke?" the voice was deep, and sounded almost dazed._

"_Yes?" the younger of the two boys continued to watch as the city light whipped by._

"_What…what do think dying feels like?" The boy of seven looked over at his older brother. He watched as his older brother gazed straight ahead, his eyes glassed over._

"_To die… would be an awfully big adventure." the boy responded before turning to watch the lights go by._

* * *

While everyone had expected Ryoma Echizen to be good, no one expected him to be this good. They watched as he quickly annihilated his opponents. One after another. It started with Marui, then Niou, right after Niou there was second year that was trying out for the first time. The second year stood no chance. In the end, Ryoma had won all of his matches, each one not a single point was scored against him, and the longest rally that managed to take place was a two hit rally. They watched as each player that faced him crumbled quickly before his feet. Each game that took place happened very much like the game between Ryoma and Kirihara. Ryoma would get no-touch aces on his service games, and return aces on his receiving games. His matches drew the most attention, everyone wanting to watch in morbid fascination at the slaughtering of player.

Not only did the boy slaughter his opponents, he seem bored as he did it. Ryoma didn't break a sweat, didn't really seem to care too much, in fact he didn't even more from his spot on the base line. At first many believed this was in fact Tezuka Kunimitsu "Tezuka Zone", but it was soon discovered that instead of just covering a certain small, circular area, Ryoma's pull on the ball seemed to apply everywhere. Anywhere the ball landed, it would bounce back to the boy. Ryoma didn't move throughout any of his games, his body remained at the baseline, barely shifting into the stances needed for a backhand or a step forward for a follow through.

At the end, Ryoma walked from the courts, his body relaxed and his hair hanging lightly in his eyes. He twirled his racket around his hand, his right wrist turning as it rotated.

"Heh." Ryoma drawled as he swung his racket once more. The worn down yellow tennis ball hit the wall again, bouncing back with a loud smack. Ryoma's left hand swung out and caught the ball deftly, he turned his body sharply and watched as his new buchou walked to him.

"Saa… you played well today." Yukimura said softly, his eyes staring to the ball in the boys hand. He smiled lightly when Ryoma simply grunted in response. "How long have you been playing?" he asked, allowing himself a look at Ryoma's toned body.

"Since I can remember." Ryoma replied his stance guarded.

"Really?" Yukimura said, his voice holding mild interest. "Who taught you?"

"My father." the reply was curt and left no room for elaboration.

"He must be very good."

"He was." Ryoma replied as he turned his interest to the gut of his racket.

"Was?" Yukimura questioned.

"Yes. He quit. A while ago." Yukimura watched as Ryoma continued to test the string of his racket, as though there was nothing else to do.

"Saa…I wonder what it is that pulls me toward you." Yukimura replied almost as if to himself. He smile when Ryoma gave a small chuckle. Ryoma turned towards his buchou, his body language changing as he stepped forward.

"Pulls you?" Ryoma asked, his eyes looking up at him.

"Yes. Like… a magnet." the elder replied, "I don't understand it."

"You don't?" Ryoma drawled as he advanced more on the elder, "Heh. Maybe I could help you figure it out?" Ryoma's full lips pulled up slightly, his eyebrow cocked upward.

"Help?" Yukimura felt his mouth go dry. A stupid reaction, he berated himself. He was older, more experienced the this boy. But then, why was he unable to move away? He watched with fascination as Ryoma took a final step closer, his left hand reaching up to brush back Yukimura's bangs that had fallen down.

"Yes. Help." Ryoma smiled, his eyes bright.

"Ah…" Yukimura mentally scolded himself. He had been around pretty boys before, hell, his tennis team was filled with boys that girls couldn't help but throw themselves at. Yet, as Ryoma's hand rest on his chest, he felt his heartbeat quicken, and he knew, Ryoma could feel it too.

He stared at Ryoma's face then suddenly connected with his eyes. The golden orbs showed flecks of brown and green, the light from the dying sun glinting in them. Suddenly, Ryoma's gaze shifted and his smirked grew wider. Without warning Ryoma's hand fisted on Yukimura's tennis shirt and he used it as leverage as he stood on his tip toes. Ryoma's breath ghosted over his ear as their cheeks brushed. _'Silk.' _Yukimura thought, his eyes falling half-mast. His body betrayed him as his hands lifted to wrap around the youngers arms, unconsciously pulling Ryoma closer.

"See ya around, _buchou._" Ryoma whispered, his breath sending goosebumps along Yukimura's flesh. Then, before Yukimura could react, Ryoma was walking past him towards the gates of the school. He watched in a daze as Ryoma slid into the long black limo parked at the front of the school.

'_Pulls you, eh?' _Ryoma thought as he ran his hands over the ivory and ebony keys. He played without thought, his hands moving elegantly, showing the years of practice. _'It's always the same. They barely know me, and already the seem to think they're perfect for me. Pulls him, indeed.' _The music rose, coming out deep and passionate. His fingers moved quick, pressing perfectly on to the key. The song grew fierce, growing in crescendo before crashing down in a loud final note. _'Still… I feel it too.' _

Ryoma dropped his head at the confession. Of all the places he's been to, all the people he had met, Yukimura Seiichi was the first that Ryoma himself felt a pull towards. He quickly told himself that it was power the attracted him. Yukimura _was_ buchou after all, he had to be strong. But as he pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose in an attempt to release the pressure that had started building, he knew better.

Ryoma stood and gently moved away from the piano into his main room. Sighing, he walked, almost reluctantly to his wall of Polaroids and reached into his back pocket when the newest Polaroid was stored. He kneeled on his plush bed and tacked the candid in perfect order of the lines before sitting back on the bed. He stared at the new picture as though he was unsure whether it should be up there, with all his memories.

In a rare show of exhaustion Ryoma lay back on the bed and continued to look wearily at the picture. He wasn't sure what had possessed him to take the picture. Though he was glad no one had seen him take it. Captured on the small white outlined photo was a laughing Yukimura Seiichi. Ryoma had been at lunch when he noticed his buchou sitting out on the lawn with the regular's. Unable to resist, Ryoma took out his camera, and snapped the photograph. Yukimura's face was barely turned away from the camera, while his eyes were closed as he laughed in obvious joy. His hair was caught lightly in the wind tugging slightly off to the right yet somehow managed to avoid covering Yukimura's face.

'_A new memory, eh?' _Ryoma thought as his eyes slid closed. _'I wonder if this will be a good one._'

* * *

The news that there was a freshman regular in Rikkidai spread quickly. Tennis teams in every region knew of Rikkidai. They knew how amazing they were, how hard they trained, how impossible it seemed to beat them. Yet a freshman was a regular. At first, rumors spread the Rikkidai was losing it, that they had gone soft, but as news spread of how brilliant Ryoma Echizen was, the doubt were quickly replaced by fear and jealousy. Rikkidai always got the good players it seemed.

"Heh. We've caused quite a stir." Kirihara said, his voice filled with pride.

"Technically, Ryoma has caused quite a stir." Yukimura corrected absently.

"Ryoma?" Marui bounced forward, "I didn't know you were on a first name basis with him… Moi… Buchou, already going for the new boy! So like buchou." Marui pouted, "You always take the beautiful ones first." He popped his gum rather defeatedly.

"N-no. It's just that someone said Ry-Echizen had lived in the United States before… I figured he'd be a bit more comfortable being called by his first name… but you're right it is highly inappropriate…" He murmured trailing off. He looked at the ground for a moment before excusing himself for class.

"Ne… Buchou seems… distracted today." Niou commented as he slid his Yanagi wig on. "57% chance the it's about Echizen." he said as he pulled a random percent and conclusion of the top of his head.

"Niou. What have I said about dressing as me?" a cool voice came from behind the group. Niou jumped and turned to face his sempai.

"Puri." he said, a gleam in his eye. Yanagi reached over and smacked him lightly on his head, successfully knocking the wig off.

"Though I have to admit; I too believe there is a high chance of it being about Echizen…" Yanagi commented after a moment. The regulars looked in the direction that their beloved buchou had gone in.

"Hehhh." Marui murmured.

* * *

Yukimura Seiichi was indeed distracted. It wasn't often he let something like this show, but his traitorous mind continued to pull up memories from the day before. How heart-breakingly beautiful Ryoma had looked in the suns setting light. How nerve fraying it was to have the younger mans hot breath against his ear, his cheek against Yukimura's. How good it felt to have Ryoma's hand tugging gently on his jersey. _'What am I going to do now?' _he thought as he dropped his head in his hands.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter V

"_Ne, Chibisuke?" The oldest looked over at the recipient of his question. The younger boy was sitting next to him on the old wooden dock that hung over the water. His little half-brother leaned back on his hand, and continued to look forward. _

"_Yes?" the younger drawled. The boys black hair that was streaked an emerald seemed to glow as it fell in the younger's face, each silky strand seems kissed by the setting sun._

"_Are you afraid?" the elder questioned, his similar eyes watching the younger's face. He never understood how his younger brother could be so beautiful. _

"_Afraid? Of what?" the boy asked as he turned his head to look at the tan boy next to him. _

"_What's going to happen." the older of the two replied._

"_No. I've always been ready."_

* * *

Rikkidai had a reputation to uphold. Being a National Number One Ranking team, there was no mercy. No days off, no easy days. Each practice as long, each swing of the racket critiqued. There was no room for mistakes. Practices were intense, the matches were hard, and yet Ryoma had no problem with any of it. His short lithe body managed to keep up and even out run most of the regulars. Most would sometimes stop and stare just watching Ryoma swing his beautiful, powerful right handed swing. They'd watch as Ryoma's shirt would ride up when he'd jump up for a serve. Their eyes would travel over his body as he stretched.

Oddly enough, the more they watched, the more laps they would have to run. It seemed as though anytime a member of the tennis club, regular or not, stared at Ryoma too long, Yukimura-buchou would yelled for more laps.

"Moi… Buchou has it bad." Marui said as he drew out the 'd' in 'bad'.

"Agreed." Jackal murmured, trying to keep his voice low as they watched three more members begin to scramble to the gates to start their newly assigned laps.

"I'm surprised no one has realized the common factor in why they have to run." Niou wondered a loud.

"The chances of them figuring out Seiichi's sudden change in mood is less then 30%." Yanagi muttered.

"That's because they don't know how possessive buchou is… idiots." Kirihara muttered.

"Well, buchou never really dated anyone before… or even liked anyone before… he always turned the admirers down." this came from Marui again. He popped his favorite green gum and continued to swing his racket. Despite the underlying threat of being sent for laps, Marui let his eyes travel over to the beautiful freshman rookie.

"It doesn't help that it's only be a week and Atobe, Fuji and even Tezuka has come to watch Echizen." Kirihara mentioned darkly.

"Though, Atobe was a bit more vocal on why he was really here." Marui chuckled.

"Ah, yes. 'Ore-sama, in my great generosity, has come to see you!'" Niou said, doing a great impression on Atobe by adding a flip to his hair.

"Yeah! 'Ore-sama demands you go on a date with him!'" Marui laughed as he recalled Ryoma's reaction the that demand. "The brat simply says, 'Yadda. I don't date monkey kings.' I don't think I've ever heard Atobe scream that loud, or call someone a brat."

The regulars chuckled remembering their new baby boy's new nickname for the diva of Hyotei. "Though, I wonder if Fuji or Tezuka have ulterior motives as well." Yanagi hummed as he stepped forward for his follow through in his swing.

As they continued to swing their rackets, they glanced over to where Ryoma played a match against one of the upperclassmen. Ryoma seemed bored with the match, even as the opponent raced after the ball, sweat coating his body.

Then, the boy who had been playing Ryoma lost his grip on his racket. The racket slipped from his sweaty grip and flew at Ryoma with vicious speed. They gasped as the racket frame connected solidly with Ryoma's forehead in a sick thwacking noise.

Instead of crumpling to the ground in pain, Ryoma simply brought his hand up and wiped the blood streaming into his eye away, even as everyone rushed forward. The sempai whose racket hit him was on his knees on the other side of the net, horrified that he had accidentally hurt his teammate.

"Ryoma. Ryoma, are you okay? Kami, you're bleeding a lot. Come on, sit down." Yukimura fussed. He pulled of his ever-present jersey, waded it up and pressed it gently to the wound.

"Is he alright, Seiichi?" Sanada questioned as he hovered near the fussing captain and the injured boy.

"I don't know. Ryoma, are you okay?" Yukimura asked almost frantically as he tried, once again to get Ryoma to sit down. Ryoma simply chuckled and brought his hand up to the hand that Yukimura had holding the jersey in place. He gently pushed his buchou's hand and jersey away.

"You'll have a hell of a time getting the blood out, buchou." Ryoma said as he smirked. Then, with blood streaming down his face Ryoma turned and picked up his sempai's racket, his blood covering the frame. Ryoma simply walked over the net, where his horrified sempai sat, apologizing profusely. In a sharp action Ryoma brought the racket up and stopped just in front of his sempai's face with amazing control. "That would have been an amazing shot if it had connected right." he said his voice ringing across the now silent courts. "But, still… Mada Mada Dane." he smirked.

"Echizen…" his sempai murmured before taking his racket back.

"You need better grip tape on the handle. Try a more water proof one. You're game will improve." Ryoma said simply.

"Ryoma…" Yukimura murmured as he walked to the boy.

"Buchou, would you mind taking me to the nurse, I think I may pass out." Ryoma said unembarrassed as he slumped back against his buchou. At the sight of the unconscious boy, people jumped into motion. Marui ran to the gates and pushed them open while Yukimura swept the now limp boy into his arms. Sanada quickly grabbed grabbed a towel from the bench and fell into step with Yukimura, pressing the towel to the cut in Ryoma's head.

"Hm… interesting." Yanagi murmured as he watched them walk away.

"Young master! Are you alright? They called the house and I rushed right over. Your mother is in a meeting and your father is still in America." Niles explained, feeling sadness for the young boy he had seen grow up. It was often like this. Ryoma's parent were hardly ever home, or constantly moving from state to state or city to city. They didn't know that it was often Niles who would have to explain why Ryoma's parents weren't there, why they couldn't tuck him in. Frankly, trying to explain to a six year old why his parents had no time for him, was not an easy task, and it was one Niles ended up doing.

"I'm fine Niles." Ryoma said simply as he fingered the white bandage around his head. "My sempais helped me. I don't know why they called you, there was really no need. I know you're busy."

"It's fine, it's fine." Niles waved it off, "Are these the sempais that helped you?" he turned to Yukimura and Sanada.

"Yes. This is Yukimura buchou and Sanada sempai." Ryoma said simply, waving his hand at the two sitting at his bedside.

"Thank you, thank you so much for helping him." Niles said. "I would like to extend an invitation to have dinner with us tonight." Niles said as he smiled.

"I'm sorry, I have Kendo practice tonight." Sanada grunted politely. He looked over at Yukimura and saw the male look quickly at Ryoma. The second Sanada saw the smile cross his friends face he knew.

"I would be delighted."

* * *

"Welcome to Echizen Manor, buchou." Ryoma said quickly as the limo pulled past the black iron gates.

"This is your home?" Yukimura asked as he looked out the window. The door was pulled open and Ryoma was helped gently from the limo.

"For now it is." Ryoma said simply as he began to walk the steps. Yukimura tried very hard to keep his mouth from dropping at the sight of the foyer. Yukimura's family was well off, as most students from Rikkaidai were, and he had even been over to Atobe's a few times, but the Echizen manor was like nothing he had ever seen before.

"Dinner will be ready in ten minutes, young master." Niles called as he headed towards the kitchen.

"Okay." Ryoma said as he began to climb the stairs. "This way, buchou."

"Where are we going?" Yukimura asked as he fell into step next to Ryoma.

"My room."

* * *

"Oh. Oh wow." Yukimura murmured when Ryoma pushed open his door. As per Ryoma's custom, the room itself was spotless. Light poured in through the windows coating it with a glow. Ryoma continued to walk through his room, passing through a archway into another, brighter room. Yukimura followed almost uncertain, yet what stopped him was the image of Ryoma.

When he stepped into the room the first thing he saw was Ryoma outlined by the brilliant white light. The room was made from windows and as Ryoma sat at the baby grand piano in the room, Yukimura swore he had never seen a more beautiful person.

"You play?" he asked as he sat down next to Ryoma on the piano bench.

"Yes." Ryoma said quietly.

"Would you… mind playing me something?" he asked. Ryoma smiled softly as he gazed at the pristine keys. Yukimura watched as he placed his fingers in line with the keys and began to play.


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter VI_

"_Ne, Chibisuke?" a tan hand dragged through sandy brown hair that stood in a rebellious spiky fashion._

"_Yes?" his younger brother sat at the piano that resided in the room. The elder watched as his brother's fingers gently ran over the keys. It was beautiful when he played, the way the music seemed to flow, how the keys seemed to move perfectly, as if trying desperately to please the beautiful young boy._

"_When did you learn to play?" To an outsider, this may seem like an odd question to ask ones brother, but to anyone who knew the Echizen boys, who knew that these two boys didn't even know the other existed until a few years ago, this was a reasonable question._

"_I started when I was three." The boy said softly, as his fingers continued to gently press the keys, effortlessly playing the slow, sad song._

"_Three? Heh. Figures." the eldest muttered. He knew his baby brother was brilliant, yet it still amazed him at times just how much his brother could do, how much he knew. "Why?" he asked._

"_Why what?" _

"_Why do you play?" he turned his head more fully towards the younger._

"_Hm… I like the sound." his sibling replied. _

"_Doesn't it feel lonely sometimes?" he asked his emerald haired brother._

"_Lonely? Why would it feel lonely?" the boy asked, his fingers still sliding along the keys._

"_No one else we know plays the piano. And you only play sad songs…"_

"_How are they sad? I think they are beautiful." the boy murmured. "Even the sheet music. When you read the music you can feel it. It's… amazing."_

"_Just from reading the funny little markings on the lines."_

"_Notes, on stanzas." the younger corrected. "It's not just the notes, its the sound. And knowing the you have created something." There was a pause between the two boys, the silence being filled by the sound of the piano._

"_Ne, Chibisuke?" _

"_Yes?"_

"_Would you… would you play me something?" he asked as he watched out the large bay window in the room. He let his eyes shut as the music stopped than began to play again, a different song this time. It was, as usual, as sad song, yet he could feel the music. Just like his Chibisuke said. _

"_Music is what feeling sounds like, aniki."_

* * *

The music seemed to flow through Yukimura. It was heartbreakingly sad, breathtakingly beautiful much like the person playing the song. He sat, mesmerized, as Ryoma's fingers played the ivory keys. Ryoma's eyes had slid closed, his body seemed to rock to the rise and fall of the music. The pristine white bandage around the younger boys head made him seem vulnerable and Yukimura found himself wanting nothing more than to protect this young enigma. The music filled the room and as Yukimura watched the boy he became more and more enthralled.

The song lasted for roughly two minutes before coming to a slow, sad ending. Ryoma's head dropped, his jaw to his chest, almost as if someone had cut the muscles. His eyes stayed closed, his fingers holding the last keys, drawing out the last notes. Eventually, silence filled the room, only the sound of their breathing could be heard.

"That… that was very beautiful, Ryoma." Yukimura murmured through the silence.

"Thank you, buchou." Ryoma murmured as he stood up from his place at the piano. He walked back into the other room and Yukimura quickly followed.

"Did you write it?" he asked as Ryoma sat down on his perfectly made bed.

"Yes." the answer passed through parted lips as Ryoma closed his eyes and gently rubbed at the tension in his neck.

"It was very good. Who did you write it for?" Yukimura asked as he sat next to Ryoma on the platformed bed.

"Who? My brother, I suppose." Ryoma sighed.

"You have a brother? Is he here?" Yukimura asked, his tone picking up at the thought of meeting someone special enough to Ryoma for him to write a song for that person.

"Yes, I have a brother. No, he's not here." Ryoma murmured. "I haven't seen my brother in years."

"Oh." Yukimura responded. Coming from a rather close family himself, he couldn't understand this lonely lifestyle Ryoma had.

Spotting the pictures lined up on the wall behind him, Yukimura noticed a younger looking Ryoma with a boy that had similar features. By no standard was he as beautiful as the younger boy, but he wasn't ugly. The tanned skin and dark hair topped with brown cat like eyes that matched Ryoma's in everything but color. "Is that him?" he asked pointing to the photograph.

Ryoma shifted on the bed and blinked his eyes open. His eyes slid to the picture Yukimura had been pointing at. Yukimura watched as Ryoma seemed to stare at the picture for a while, his beautiful cat like eyes going unfocused.

"Yes. Yes, that's him."

"He looks like you… Well, he's not as…beautiful…" Yukimura murmured and was relieved when Ryoma chuckled.

"He never did understand that. Always complaining how I had managed to be 'so damn pretty'." Ryoma said. "We have the same eyes. Our fathers eyes."

"Is your father away a lot?" Yukimura asked.

"Yes. Truthfully, I haven't seen my father in three months, my mother in one month."

"That's a very long time to go without seeing your parents." Yukimura commented, instantly feeling sorry for the boy.

"I suppose. I wouldn't know, they were never really around to begin with." Ryoma said simply as he continued to look at the various pictures on the wall. "Ryoga, my brother, was all I really had for company, and he was only there for a few years."

"A few years? Why?"

"We didn't know he existed until I was five. He's older than me by almost…5 years." Ryoma commented. "He was the child that was conceived through my father and a blow by. Then, my father married my mother and had me. When I was five, Ryoga turned up."

Yukimura blinked at the information. '_Oh, Yanagi will be so jealous. Inside information on Ryoma Echizen._' "Where is he at now?"

"Now? I have no idea. One night he just left." At this Ryoma laid back on the bed, obviously tired as he closed his eyes once more. Leaning back against the pillow pristine Ryoma's hair spilling out against the silk case, Yukimura found he had never wanted to kiss anyone more than now. 'He looks tired.' Yukimura thought as he looked the beautiful boy. Then in an act of spontaneous tenderness, Yukimura gently brushed Ryoma's hair away from his face. When Ryoma didn't react, Yukimura realized that Ryoma had fallen asleep.

Amused rather than insulted, Yukimura continued to stroke the boys hair. He allowed his eyes to wander back to the photographs on the wall. Each was different. One held a moment of pure joy on Ryoma's face as an unknown blonde slug his arms around Ryoma's neck. Another contained a picture of a sunset. Some holding pictures of small items, like a highway signs, coffee to-go cups, books laying in green grass, a random seashell in the white sand, a silhouette photo of two boys on a cliff by the ocean. Yukimura spent his time looking at each of them. Pictures upon pictures of people that had obviously been important in Ryoma's life each person different. Some the people would look at the camera and smile or make a funny face, while others were unexpected snapshots that Ryoma had taken. Many contained Ryoma in them, even the unexpected ones where Ryoma's friends must have gotten a hold of the camera.

The pictures seem endless. Hundreds lined the wall, all perfectly in line. Yukimura was surprised to see photos of Ryoma on a skateboard, playing the violin, jumping off bridges into the water below, in the rain with his friends, his hair curled lightly and clinging to his face. Eventually, Yukimura reached the last picture and was shocked to see his own face.

He was smiling in the picture, his hair caught in mid action. His face was slightly averted, his mouth open and curved in laughter, his eyes closed in obvious joy. Yukimura remembered this day. He had been at lunch, talking with the regulars. He remembered Marui and Niou messing with Akaya and the younger boy getting mad, causing Jackal to try to get Marui to stop all while Sanada frowned, Yagyuu reading his book trying not to smile and Yanagi recorded more information. Yukimura had been laughing at the antics of his team.

He lifted his hand to gently touch the picture on Ryoma's wall and blinked. He had become one of Ryoma's unexpected snapshots. He was on this wall with all the other people that seemed to matter to Ryoma. He had never felt more alive.

* * *

After awhile, Yukimura left. He had thanked Niles for the trouble he had gone through, politely mentioned that Ryoma had fallen asleep and he didn't wish to wake him. So instead of staying for dinner, he left for home.

Once he got home he was surprised to see Sanada sitting on his front porch.

"Hello, Genichiro!" he called as he approached. Sanada climbed to his feet and greeted him the same way he usually did. "Was there a reason for stopping by? Would you like to come in?" Yukimura offered.

"No. This will only take a moment, Seiichi." Sanada answered his face giving away nothing.

"Oh, well, then what is it? Is there something wrong?" Yukimura questioned. It wasn't often that Sanada was like this around him.

"How is Echizen?" He asked suddenly.

"He… he's fine, why?" Yukimura asked, his face curious.

"I want a match with him."

The courts of Rikkaidai were buzzing. People rushed from one end of the courts to the other, simply bursting with gossip.

"I'm betting on Sanada-sempai."

"No way! Did you see Echizen's games?"

"Yeah! He annihilated his opponents! Without breaking a sweat!"

"Sanada-sempai has fuu-rin-ka-in-zan-rai! There is no way Echizen will win."

"Not a chance!"

"Sanada-kun is so cool!"

"Ryoma-kun! Ryoma-kun, do your best!"

"Puri. Puri."

"Che, idiots."

"There is a 50% chance that either will win."

"So, in other words, you have no idea."

"Well…"

"Rikkaidai! Rikkaidai! Let's go Sanada!"

"Come on, Ryoma-sama! Show them what you can do!"

"Che. So loud." Ryoma muttered over the noise. His opponent sat on the bench across the court from him, lacing up his shoes. Ryoma himself tested the gut of his racket and sipped on his favored grape Ponta.

"Ryoma." Ryoma turned though he already knew who was talking to him.

"Yes, buchou?" He watched as Yukimura glanced hesitantly over at Sanada.

"Good luck."

* * *

The noise from the crowds grew louder and louder. It was almost a deafening roar of people shouting for their choice of player, arguing over the future winner and screaming just for the hell of the match.

Ryoma checked his laces and took one last sip of Ponta before picking up is racket in his right hand and pushing his self up until he stood completely. His chin angled up as he watch Sanada stand as well and Ryoma walked to the net.

"Rough or Smooth?" Ryoma asked as he held his racket handle up from the ground.

"Rough." the racket spun with a flick of Ryoma's wrist and slowly decreased in speed before falling to the courts.

"Rough." Ryoma announced, picking up his racket.

"I'll serve." Sanada said before pausing. "Echizen. I won't go easy on you."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." They walked to their respective sides and took their places.

"Match Echizen versus Sanada. Sanada to serve."


	7. Chapter 7

_Chapter VII_

"_Ne, Chibisuke?" Neither of the boys looked at each other. Their attractive faces stared off to the side, or straight ahead, avoiding the expression of the other._

"_Yes?" the younger of the two barely moved his lips as he stared almost in a daze at the front door of the giant mansion._

"_Have you ever wondered what it was like to fly?" The brick steps that lead up to the large double doors of this new home seemed to go on forever, when, really, it was only a couple of steps._

_This wasn't the first time they had moved. House after house, neighborhood after neighborhood. They learned quickly that even when their parents would smile and say 'this is it.' that there would always be another move. Like pawns on a chess board, they would move to surround the king and queen of the castle. _

"_To fly?" the younger asked as his grip tightened on his shoulder bag. He thought about the question, he knew what he wanted to say, yet he couldn't seem to say the words over the lump in his throat. _

"_Yeah…" the eldest whispered, his hand fumbling out for his brothers. It engulfed the much smaller, thinner hand than his, gripping it as though it were a life line. _

" '_Come fly away, come fly away with me.'" the younger recited._

"_Who said that one?" the brunette asked a small smile forming on his face._

"_Frank Sinatra. A jazz musician." The youngest replied, his voice quiet._

"_Figures." his free hand raked through his sandy-brown hair before he looked down at the black and emerald mop of hair that adorn his brother's head. "Ne, Chibisuke?"_

"_Yes." this time the boys face tilted up to his brothers. _

"_We'll always have each other, right?" _

"_Yes." _

_The two clasped hands tightened as they began to walk the steps of the their new house._

"_Ne, aniki."_

"_Yeah?"_

"_I want to fly."_

"_Me too, Chibisuke. Me too."_

* * *

"_A match?" Yukimura asked his hand tightening on his bag._

"_Yes." Sanada replied his face stony._

"_But… why?" Yukimura didn't like this. He knew Ryoma was amazing, but Sanada… his invisible serve, his fuu-rin-ka-in-zan-rai, his speed and power… he was, to most, unbeatable. _

"_Seiichi… I'm your best friend." Sanada muttered quietly. "I have to make sure he's good enough for you." _

"_Gen…" Yukimura was shocked._

"_I can already see it." Sanada said as if needing to back up his claim. " You two… it's already begun. I can see it in your eyes, the way you look at him, how you search the halls and the courts just for a __glimpse of him. And he… he watches you too. When he thinks no one is looking he'll glance at you and… something hits his eyes. It's like… it's like you two already know each other."_

"_Genichiro… Ryoma and I…We…" Yukimura didn't know what to say. Of course Ryoma and him barely knew each other, yet there was no denying that he felt a pull towards the first year rookie. He was inwardly delighted to hear that Sanada had caught Ryoma looking at him, it just proved that his picture had been up on Ryoma's wall for a reason. He mattered to Ryoma. Despite only knowing each other for a little while, Ryoma seemed to think he was worth caring about. _

"_You haven't even realized it yourself. He hasn't either." Sanada replied, a rare soft smile forming on his lips. "I just… I have to make sure that if he's going to take my best friend away from me, that he's worth it. That he's worth you." _

"_Gen, Ryoma will never take me away from you." Yukimura said softly, his hand cupping his best friends cheek._

"_You say that, but that's only because you've never really cared for anyone in the way you'll care for Ryoma. Eventually, you'll spend more time with him, and I'll be a second choice." Sanada said. "I'm okay with that. You are my best friend, and I want you to be happy no matter what. But I… need to play him. To make sure that he's worth it."_

_Yukimura paused before setting his bag down on the front step. His slender arms wound around Sanada broad shoulders. "You'll always be my best friend Gen."_

"_I want a match." Sanada repeated as his own arms came up around Yukimura waist. He pressed his face into his best friends shoulder, knowing that once he was granted his match, it was a fight for his best friend. One he didn't intend to lose._

"_Okay. You can play him." Yukimura replied, his own face pressed against the top of Sanada's cap covered head._

"_When?"_

"_Tomorrow, first thing."_

"_Okay."_

* * *

Yukimura knew this match would be brutal. Sanada wasn't going to hold back, and with him serving first, it only made him more worried. He knew that if Ryoma didn't win or come close, there was no way Sanada would even allow Ryoma to look at Yukimura.

'_Win Ryoma. Please win.'_

* * *

Sanada took his place to the service line. He had warned the young boy that he wouldn't hold back, and he had meant it. His body tensed as he mind prepped himself for the battle to come. The moment the racket had landed in his favor, he knew what he was going to do.

He bounce the ball off the ground. The small yellow ball would fly out of his hand and bounce roughly of the smooth surface of the court before smacking back into his palm. Sanada head snapped up and he zeroed in on the small boy across the court. He tossed the ball high, letting it soar before it hit just the right point and snapping his body into his signature serve. His Invisible Serve.

His racket swung so fast it was impossible to see. The ball shot towards the opposite court with a crack that resounded through the courts. It sped past Ryoma on the opposite court and smacked into the fence behind him.

"15-love." the ref called from his position in the chair overseeing the game.

Sanada watched as Ryoma glanced over at the ball that lay behind him. He tapped his racket against his tennis shoe and let out a soft whistle.

"Fast, eh?" the boy hummed out. "Looks like this is serious." he commented as a smirk appeared on his face.

"I warned you. I'm not holding back. Not at these stakes." Sanada replied.

"Stakes?" Ryoma questioned as Sanada got ready to service again. "And what are the…" the ball shot past him again. "Stakes?" Sanada grunted as the ref called the score again.

"It's nothing you need to know about. But, they are high." he replied as he tossed the ball again. It slammed into Ryoma's court again. The ref recited the court.

"Really? How do I know how hard to play if I don't know the stakes?" Ryoma replied, not even flinching as the ball slammed past him for the third time.

"Game Sanada one games to love."

"You should play hard no matter the stakes." Sanada replied. Ryoma smirked as he pulled a new ball from his pocket.

"Well, lets put it this way," Ryoma said as he bounce the ball. "If you're play a game you have no real interest in, would you be willing to go all out and risk getting hurt for that?" the ball smacked into his hand before he tossed the ball high in the air. Instead of waiting for the ball to fall in his rackets range, Ryoma jumped to meet it, his racket slamming into ball. The ball sped to Sanada's receiving court, going straight for him.

"That's not going to work on me!" Sanada yelled as he drew his racket back to hit the ball. Then instead of bouncing straight back the ball curved up toward his face. "What?"

"15-love!" the ref called.

"A twist serve? How can you do that?" Sanada growled.

"You still haven't told me the stakes." Ryoma replied as the ball flew high again. Once again the ball met the racket and slammed toward Sanada. This time though Sanada stepped back and waited for the curve. Once it hit the exact point, Sanada's racket swung at an invisible pace.

"15-15."

"Like I said, it's nothing you need to know about." Sanada replied.

"Heh. How mean." Ryoma almost pouted. He served once more, having it returned by Sanada.

"30-15."

"You are not going to win." Sanada said. "I won't let you."

"Heh. Whatever you like." Ryoma replied as the ball left his grasp. With a resound crack the ball hit past Ryoma once more.

"40-15."

"You don't care?" Sanada replied.

"Why should I? You refuse to let me the stakes. Besides, what's the worst that could happen?" Ryoma said as the ball hit Sanada court again before smashing past him again.

"Game Sanada two games to love."

Sanada took his place and continued to win his service game.

"Game Sanada three games to love." The one-sided match continued.

"Game Sanada four games to love."

"You getting bored yet?" Ryoma asked as he rotated the racket around his wrist as the ball once again flew past him.

"15- love"

"You going to just give this game over to me?" Sanada asked, his voice quaking with anger. Another ball hit past Ryoma.

"30-love."

"Why not? It is not ranking tournaments, it's not a real game. This is just one of those games to show me 'where my place is' and frankly, I don't care." Another perfect invisible serve.

"40-love."

"If this is how Rikkidai spends their time, having petty games for no reason, then I honestly don't understand your method." Ryoma simply watched as the ball slammed past him.

"Game Sanada five games to love."

"So you like losing?" Sanada asked as he returned Ryoma's serve.

"No, but seeing as how you won't tell my why I'm doing this, I don't really care. You won't even tell me if this is a practice match to 'get better'." Ryoma replied as he instinctively returned the ball, starting the first rally of the game.

"What if I actually did tell you the stakes. There is no way that in this point of the game you will win." Sanada said as he hit the ball back.

"Oh? Okay. Let me know the stakes." Ryoma replied as he sent the ball back again. The game had progressed in such a one-sided manor that no one even noticed that while Sanada was using his invisible swing, Ryoma had no problem returning it.

"Yukimura." Sanada replied.

"Buchou?" Ryoma asked. "What does he have to do with it?" the rally continued.

"Yukimura is my best friend. I will not let you have him if you are not worth it." Sanada said as he slammed the ball viciously at Ryoma. _'Had the ball picked up speed?'_

"So… beat you, get some twisted sort of blessing?" Ryoma asked.

"Yes."

As Sanada spoke, Ryoma suddenly twisted his racket to an awkward angle. The ball bounced sharply off the racket and sped toward the opposite court. Sanada chased it but just as his racket reached it, the ball jerk in a different direction.

"15-love."

"I guess I had better get serious then." Ryoma replied.

"There is no chance of beating me." Sanada replied.

"Heh? With that serve of yours? I'm sure most wouldn't be able to." Ryoma replied. "You are truly amazing. But, have you ever heard of adaptive tennis?"

"Adaptive tennis?" Sanada questioned.

"Yes. It's when the player sees the moves of his opponent and changes his own style to match. This tennis can take several games before one can even think of attempting it. I've had my several games." Ryoma replied. The without warning, the racket Ryoma had been flipping over his wrist, flipped in the air before coming down on Ryoma's left side. Ryoma caught the handle in a perfect grip with his left hand. "This is my tennis. It is unpredictable, untraceable. You are by far the strongest I've come across and if this game had progressed the way a normal game should, you would have won. It would have taken me too long to analyze and I would be tired. Yet, while you are winning by five games, my adaptive tennis has you locked, and while you are tired and sweating, I'm not." Sanada shifted his grip on his racket tightening. True, he was tired, his swing took a lot out of him, especially since it has not been perfected, but, there was no way Ryoma could catch up. "This game is mine. The stakes are too high to lose."

"You can't even see my serve." Sanada retorted.

"Yes, I can. My eyes are highly advanced at seeing movement. While to some it appears there is no swing, I can see better. The swing show me three rackets, but I can see the angle you're hitting at, making it easier to return."

"Players, please continue your game." the ref called.

Ryoma smirked. He tossed the ball into the air at alarming speed, and swung his racket almost too fast to see. Still, Sanada caught up with it. It slammed into Sanada's racket and just as he was ready to step through to follow there was an increase in pressure. He threw his body into the return and sent back towards Ryoma. Ryoma shifted quickly and raced towards the pistoning ball. It hit the gut of the racket with a deafening crack before slamming past Sanada.

"Nobody beats me in tennis." Ryoma said at the look on Sanada's stoic face.

'_You say nobody beats you in tennis? I'll never let you win. But… what is this pressure…'_

The game continued in this manner. Ryoma would serve, Sanada would return before the ball would slam past him.

"Game Echizen five games to one."

Sanada took his place. "You will not win!" The serve went out, and returned with just as much force.

"15-love."

"Heh. That serve of yours is a lot harder to see that your swing. It hurts my eyes." Ryoma pouted. "And you have tremendous amounts of power." he praised.

Sanada grunted and served again. This time when the ball came rushing back to him, he drew back.

"Invade like fire."

"15-15."

The game continued with a new intensity.

"30-15."

"30-30."

"40-30."

"Game Echizen five games to two."

This time, Ryoma's play pattern randomized. He would change is serves, his shots, his attacks and defense. The rallies would vary, and the score would raise.

"15-love."

"30-love."

"40-love."

"Game Echizen five games to three."

Sanada would serve again, taking points from the rallies.

"15-love."

"30-love."

"40-love."

"40-15."

"40-30."

"40-40."

"Game Echizen five games to four."

At this point, Sanada was drenched in sweat, while Ryoma panted in exhaustion. Ryoma took his place on the service line and tossed the ball. Once again his play randomized, keeping it near impossible for Sanada to win Ryoma's service game.

"Game Echizen five games to five."

"Ne. Sanada-sempai? Your invisible serve and swing. It's not done yet, is it?" Ryoma observed.

"No." Sanada replied curtly as the ball rallied between them. The two boys grunted under each assault of the ball, using their bodies to return it.

"15-love."

"Heh. Once it is… even I may not be able to beat you." Ryoma replied.

"30-love."

"Who says you'll win now?" Sanada growled.

"40-love."

"Mada mada dane." Ryoma smiled. "You are strong, sempai. Probably the strongest I've seen. But, as you said, the stakes are high." Ryoma risked a look over at his buchou. It wasn't usual for Ryoma to become attached to someone, but, as Yukimura had put it, there was a pull. Something Ryoma was too tired to fend off.

"Game Echizen six games to five. Advantage Echizen!"

Sanada's body strained as he forced himself to serve again and again. Even still, as he looked over at Yukimura, he saw the gentle feminine boy looking at Ryoma with awe in his eyes. He knew Yukimura desperately wanted Ryoma to win, even though he knew Yukimura was always cheering Sanada on.

"Ne, Echizen."

"40-love."

"Take care of him."

"Game and match to Echizen, seven games to love!"

"No problem."

* * *

The tennis team was dismissed and many had gone home. In fact, all but two had left.

"Ne, buchou."

"Yes?"

"What was today's match about?" Ryoma asked as he pulled his shirt off.

"Sanada wanted a match." Yukimura replied as he tried not to stare at Ryoma's chest.

"Hm… and the stakes were you. How does that fit in?" He tugged on a white shirt before pulling on his white button up and blue blazer.

"Gen… he noticed the way I look at you." Yukimura murmured as he reached over instinctively to straighten Ryoma's tie.

"Really? And how is it you look at me, _buchou_?" Ryoma asked as his hands gently tangled with Yukimura's at his tie.

"The same way you look at me when you think no one is watching, Ryoma." Yukimura said, taking a shot in the dark that Sanada had been correct that Ryoma stared at him. He wasn't disappointed.

Ryoma issued a low hum in the back of his throat before his hands slid along Yukimura's arms and up his chest. His hand fisted lightly on his blazer's lapels, and Yukimura bent slightly when Ryoma gave a small tug on the uniform. The second Yukimura was the appropriate height, Ryoma's soft lips press against his. Yukimura's eyes widened slightly as he watched Ryoma's beautiful cat-like eyes slide closed, before following in suit.

While Ryoma's hands still held Yukimura's blazer, Yukimura's own hands came forward to pull Ryoma closer, his right arm wrapping around Ryoma's back, while his left hand tangled up in Ryoma's soft emerald hair. Their lips moved slowly, gently against each others before parting and pressing together again. It was like nothing Yukimura expected. While he knew kissing Ryoma would be nice, he had never expected it would set his nerves on fire.

"Ryoma." Yukimura murmured against their barely separated lips. Ryoma gently pulled away and turned to dig through his bag. He turned back around with a white Polaroid camera in his hand.

"Ne, buchou. Remember my wall?" Ryoma asked.

"Yes." Yukimura replied huskily as he watch Ryoma approach him again, camera in hand.

"They were all memories that mean something to me." Ryoma replied as he stood gracefully on his tiptoes. Yukimura bent closer to Ryoma, his hands once again tangling around Ryoma's slender back and in his soft hair. He tugged Ryoma's face closer until their lips almost touched. "Make this a memory." Ryoma murmured before their lips pressed together in the same intimate way they had just parted from.

Ryoma's hand that held the camera extended and as their lips melded together, the camera flashed.

* * *

Later that night, Ryoma knelt on his mattress, photograph in hand. The music he had programmed earlier that night played softly through the speakers on his computer speakers. The quiet, sad song played and Ryoma tapped his fingers in time to the slow steady beat of the drum.

He gently placed the photograph he had been holding on the wall, tacking it in a new row. The first on of the new row. He sat back once he was satisfied with the placement and looked at the white framed Polaroid. Yukimura's lips pressed against his, his soft almost violet hair glowing softly in the light that had been coming through the windows of the club house. Yukimura hand was seen tangled in Ryoma's own soft sun coated hair, as Ryoma's lips, which were snugly against Yukimura's tilted up in a happy half smile.

'_I wonder what this means now.' _Ryoma though tiredly. Still, as tired as he was, it didn't stop the smile forming on his face. He slid beneath his covers, and faced his wall, still staring at the picture.

It had been a while since he had been this happy.


	8. Chapter 8

_Chapter VIII_

"_Ne, Chibisuke?" the rain hit against the large glass windows of the room the two boys where in._

"_Yes?" the youngest boy had curled up against his elder brother, the covers of the bed pulled up to his ear._

"_What do you dream about?" the eldest of the two wound his tan arms around his younger brother, tucking him under his chin._

"_Dream about?" the younger mumbled as his hands fisted in the night shirt his brother wore._

"_Yeah. Like, when you go to sleep, what do you dream about?" He ducked his head and pressed his cheek against the emerald streaked ebony hair. _

"_I… I don't really dream, I guess. Or at least I don't remember them." the younger one replied._

"_Oh…" A moment of silence passed before the younger one spoke up, his voice muffled against the material of his brothers shirt._

"_What do you dream about, aniki?"_

"_I dream about going far, far away. Somewhere were I can have friends and adventures." the boy replied. _

"_Sounds like fun." the tired boy replied. "Ne, aniki?"_

"_Yeah?"_

_"If I could remember my dreams, I think that would be mine too."_

* * *

The rain seemed to come from no where. It just poured from the sky, soaking the grounds. Puddles formed along the streets, and mud collected in the grass. People rushed from place to place, trying to stay as dry as possible, praying that they don't get sick.

"Moi…" Marui pouted. He sat next to Jackal in the club room, his bright red hair dripping at the ends. He squirmed in obvious displeasure and made another high whine from the back of his throat. After the fifth whine, Jackal decided he should probably ask what was wrong.

"Something the matter, Marui?" Jackal muttered. He sighed softly, knowing that Marui was probably pouting about the rain and that by asking what was wrong, he had just invited the hyper player to talk.

"Yes! It's raining, and we can't play tennis, and my hair is wet and so is my bag and everything in it, including my new pack of my favorite gum!" Marui let out a high whine and thrust his soggy gum under Jackal's nose.

"Oh…" Jackal muttered, trying to sound sympathetic.

The rest of the tennis team had gone home, besides the regulars who had decided to hold a meeting. Many of the regulars had changed out of their tennis gear and switched to their school uniforms, claiming them to be warmer that the wet clothing they were wearing now.

"I hate the rain." Kirihara pouted, his bottom lip sticking out, his arms crossed at his chest.

"Heh… I like it." Ryoma murmured from his seat on the window ledge.

"What? Why?" Marui asked. "We can't play tennis, everything is all wet and muddy, people get sick. It just sucks." he joined Kirihara in pouting.

"Mmmm." Ryoma hummed out. He shifted back slightly to allow Yukimura to gently towel dry his hair. "Yeah, but it's like… everything is being washed away. All the dirt and grime that collects over everything is just being washed down the drain. It's like starting over."

* * *

"Come on Ryoma, I'll walk you home." Yukimura offered at the end of the meeting.

"You'll catch a cold if you walk me home then walk yourself home in the rain." Ryoma replied. "I'll call the limo, it can come pick us up. It can take you home… or you could stay the night at my house." Ryoma offered shyly, as he pulled his phone from his pocket.

"Ne?! Sleepover at Ryoma's?! I wanna go!" Marui cried. "Jackal, make him let us go!"

"Indeed, a 'sleepover', as Marui puts it, may be… interesting." Yanagi murmured.

"Wait! That wasn't an open invite!" Ryoma cried, shocked at how quickly things shifted from Yukimura coming over to the entire tennis team regulars coming over.

"Ryoma, it's good to get to know your team." Yukimura inserted slyly. Personally, he thought it would be fun to have a sleepover. That was probably his more sadistic side showing though.

Ryoma sighed before nodding. "Fine, you guys can come. I don't care." Ryoma muttered as he finished the call he had been making. "The limo will be here shortly."

"Ne, how come a limo picks you up?" Marui asked.

"A number of reasons." Ryoma replied quietly. He turned to find Yukimura digging gently through his bag, and didn't bother to ask questions as Yukimura pulled Ryoma's Polaroid camera from the large bag.

"Ne, Ryoma?" Yukimura asked as he shifted the camera to see different angles on it. "How do you use this?" Yukimura was used to the digital cameras that you point and click with.

"Huh? Oh. You place your eye up to the viewfinder," Ryoma indicated the specified placing, "then you just point and click at what you see."

"Ah…"

"Why? Do you want to know?" Ryoma replied.

"Just wondering. I've never seen a camera like this before." Yukimura experimentally put the camera to his eye. "I've seen the really old Polaroid cameras, but this is… modern almost. Where did you get it?"

"A store in America." Ryoma replied before turning to look out the window once more at the rain. His right leg rest on the window ledge with him, while his left leg hung over the edge. Ryoma had laid his forearm across the knee of his right leg. He had changed from his tennis clothes as well, and donned a pair of blue ripped jeans and a black long sleeve shirt. Around his neck was a silver necklace that had a single angel wing hanging from it. His hair was damp and curling at the edges as it hung lightly in his cat-like eyes.

Snap.

The rewind of the camera made a slight buzzing noise as his printed out the blacked out picture. Snagging it from the camera, Yukimura began to wave the picture lightly, like he had seen Ryoma do with the picture of them.

"Buchou! What'd you do that for?" Ryoma asked, his lower lip pouting out.

"This one is _my_ memory." Yukimura said smugly, before sliding the camera back in the bag. He tucked the picture away, making sure it wouldn't get damp when they went back out in the rain.

"Hey! Hey, the limo is here!" Kirihara announced, bouncing on the balls of his feet when he spotted the black vehicle.

"Let's go, let's go!" Marui tugged Jackal's hand and waved at Sanada, who simply scowled.

"Come on, Ryo." Yukimura gently intertwined his fingers with Ryoma's and tugging the boy off the ledge. His smile widened when Ryoma didn't pull away, but settled his fingers more firmly into the spaces between Yukimura's.

* * *

"Young Master!" Nile broke into a slight jog down the grand steps at the sight of Ryoma and his friends.

"Hello, Niles." Ryoma replied calmly. He tried to ignore the way his teammates gaped at the mansion surrounding them.

"You are soaked! You'll catch pneumonia!" Niles fussed as he ordered the maid to retrieve more towels for the other boys as he himself towel dried his young masters hair. Ryoma's simply chuckled, startling the tennis members.

"I'm fine, Niles. I'll catch a hot shower in a few minutes." He said as he pulled the towel gently from Niles's hands.

"But-"

"It's fine, Niles. In any case, these are my teammates." Ryoma gestured. "This is Jackal-sempai, Niou-sempai, Yanagi-sempai, Marui-sempai, Kirihara-sempai, Yagyuu-sempai and you know Sanada-sempai and Seiichi-buchou." Yukimura's head snapped over to the boy at the use of his first name. He had figured he'd have to coax the boy into using it. His smile widened.

"Nice to meet you all. I'll get some soup on and you can all warm up." Niles said as the maids handed out towels. "Will they be staying the night, young master?"

"Yes. Please have hot bathes or showers available for them as well as rooms." Ryoma replied as he walked toward the staircase.

"No problem." Niles replied, then hesitated. "Ah… young master?" Ryoma stopped his climb up the stairs.

"Yes?"

"There is a slight…um… issue, you should be aware of." Niles muttered.

"And that is?" Ryoma's voice took a slightly cold note to it.

"Well…"

"Seishounen!"

"Dad?"

* * *

At the top of the steps stood a tall, muscular man dress in a pair of blue jeans and a blue male v-neck tennis shirt. He had long brown hair pulled back into a loose ponytail on the top of his head. There was no denying that there was some sort of blood relation between the young boy at the bottom of the stairs and the man at the top of the stairs, for the eyes that could be seen looking down on the teens who stood in the foyer, was the same exact stare that they had seen looking across them at the tennis courts.

The moment the word "Dad." left Ryoma's mouth, they heard the surprise in his tone. Yukimura himself knew that this was probably because the teen had not seen his father in over three months.

"Hora! You haven't grown a bit!" Nanjiroh Echizen proclaimed. Then, ever the child, he set his butt on the railing of the stairs, and gave a slight push, sending himself down the stairs. At the end, he gracefully leaped off and landed almost cat-like next to Ryoma. "Miss me?"

"Not much." Ryoma mutter as he looked into the eyes that were identical to his own.

"Moi! So mean!" the older man pouted.

"That's what happens when you get used to having you and mother away for awhile." Ryoma replied.

"Ah… yeah, well… how is your mother?" Nanjiroh asked.

"You haven't spoken with her?" Ryoma asked as though this were a regular occurrence.

"No. She's always busy with something or other." he waved it off.

"Hm… Well… I'm having my sempai-tachi sleepover." Ryoma indicated the boys that stood in the doorway. "Don't bother them." he warned before continuing up the stairs. "Niles will have rooms, showers and clothing for all of you. I'm going to take a shower." Ryoma called down. He continued up the stairs without looking back at the man at the bottom of the stairs.

* * *

Yukimura had showered quickly and dressed in the clothing Niles had laid out for him. Surprisingly enough the clothing fit him just fine, and was rather comfortable at that. The blue silk button up rubbed delicately against his skin while the simple pair blue silk pajama bottoms fit perfectly.

After toweling his hair dry, Yukimura made his way to Ryoma's room. Apparently, at Ryoma's insistence, Yukimura had been placed in the room closest to Ryoma's. He gently knocked on the door, then, when receiving no answer, he quietly entered the room. Finding no sign of Ryoma, but hearing the shower running, Yukimura crossed the room to sit on Ryoma's plush bed.

Another five minutes passed before the shower turned off. Then another five minutes later, Ryoma stepped out of the bathroom. He wore no shirt, and a pair of white cotton pajama bottoms. His hands were busy rubbing the towel against the damp emerald colored hair, and those golden eyes were half closed as he stepped further into the room. Without noticing the quiet Yukimura, Ryoma turned to music system and began to fiddle with the complex looking dials.

A fast, yet low beat song came on, the drums coming in quick while the guitar played a repetitious sequence. A voice of an male singer came through the speakers, eventually proclaiming that he did not want to hear 'you say, say, say, say, say, say, say it.'

"Interesting choice of music." Yukimura commented as Ryoma turned towards him.

"I like a variety." Ryoma said simply as he hung his towel on the door knob of his bathroom door. He grabbed his bag that lay on the floor near the door before walking over to the bed. He climbed the platform to his mattress and sat down on the sheets. Ryoma leaned his back against the cool wall before smiling softly at Yukimura. "I can change it if you'd prefer." he offered as he pointed to the small remote that sat on the shelving that was next to Ryoma's bed.

"No, this is fine." Yukimura replied as he shifted closer to Ryoma. He leaned his back against the wall next to Ryoma and smiled gently at the tired boy next to him. After a moment of content peace Yukimura asked Ryoma what he knew needed to be asked. "Are you okay?"

Ryoma sighed and in an unexpected move he laid his head against Yukimura's shoulder.

"I hate it when he shows up like this." Ryoma muttered.

"Why?" Yukimura asked. "Aren't you happy he is here?" his arm came up to curl around Ryoma thin shoulders.

"No. Not really. It's more uncomfortable with him here then when he is gone." Ryoma sighed. "He's always gone. Mostly because he doesn't know what to do with me. I'm not like Ryoga was. I'm not hyper or an extrovert. He just doesn't know how to handle something as simple as talking to me. He loves me. He just… doesn't understand me. And with mom never here… he just get uncomfortable and leaves."

"He just… leaves? Where does he go?" Yukimura asked.

"Where? I'm not sure. It's different all the time. He can go anywhere he wants." Ryoma replied. After a moment of silence Ryoma quietly stated, "He wasn't always gone. He used to be home. Used to play tennis with me or Ryoga. He'd pick us up and spin us around high above his head until we were dizzy."

"What happened?"

"I… I don't know. Mom started to work more and more, and we started having to move around a lot. Then, Ryoga and I were just suddenly alone. I was used to it though. When I was three, they stopped coming home, and I spent most my time with Niles. Then Ryoga showed up and we were a big happy family again. Then, at six, mom and dad were gone again. I remember Ryoga asking why. I just… didn't know how to explain it then."

Yukimura's arm tightened around Ryoma's shoulders and he gently pushed his face against the soft emerald locks.

"Sempai-tachi has probably found the bowling alley by now…" Ryoma muttered.

"Should we go join them?"

"No. Stay here with me." Ryoma muttered, his hand coming across both of their bodies to graze over Yukimura's chest and lock on the fabric at his side.

"Okay."

* * *

"So, you skateboard, play the piano, and violin, you are a brilliant at tennis, can take amazing pictures, you can draw, and you are a certified genius. What can't you do?" Yukimura asked, his hand gliding through the jet black hair. He lay on his back, his head propped up by pillows. Ryoma lay on his chest, his ear pressed to Yukimura's heart, his fingers tapping the beat out on Yukimura sternum. They had been laying like this for almost two hours now, simply discussing anything and everything. The music had continued to play in a random play list, the varieties of recording labels, band names, song titles, genres, and tunes playing through the surround sound speakers.

"I can not fish, nor can I play the guitar, my fingers are too short to play the complex chords. I absolutely hate cooking, mostly because I can't, no matter who tries to teach me. I can not whistle with my fingers, nor can I snap my fingers with my right hand. I have an inability to hang on to money and I really, really, really can not boogie board, despite being told that it is 'just like skating and surfing.' which is a lie." Ryoma's hand had taken to tracing random patterns on Yukimura's shirt front. "Ne, buchou?"

"Yes?" Yukimura hummed.

"Do you ever remember your dreams?" Ryoma asked out of the blue.

"My dreams?"

"Yeah, like when you sleep." Ryoma specified.

"No. I can never seem to remember them." Yukimura replied.

"Heh. Funny, neither can I."


	9. Chapter 9

_Chapter IX_

"_Ne, Chibisuke?" _

"_Yes?"_

"_Why do you always stare out the window?" the tanned boy slouched in the seat he sat in, adjusting his seatbelt grudgingly. He had noticed his younger brothers habit of watching out the window a while ago, yet he never commented. His baby brother always seemed to have a far off look in his eye when he looked out the window. Be it a car window, the windows in the house, the windows at school. His baby brother would always be looking outside, watching the people walk by or the birds take flight._

"_There is always something to see. Something to wonder about." the younger murmured in his quiet way. His beautiful face was turned towards the tinted expanse of glass before him as he looked out at the passing cars._

"_Something to wonder about?" the elder asked. "There's never anything there besides people or buildings or trees, stuff like that. What's there to wonder about?" he stopped tugging on his seat beat buckle and proceeded to look over at his entranced younger brother._

"_That's just it. There are people and buildings and cars." the youngest of the two spared his elder brother a glance, his golden olive eyes sparked with interest. _

"_What's so interesting about that? You don't know those people, or what building is what, and trees are boring." the eldest just didn't seem to get it._

"_How can you not wonder? There is so much to know." the younger of the two smiled. "If you see a person, how can you not wonder where they are going, where they're heading, if they're running away from something. If they have someone who everyday tells them that there are beautiful. Someone who loves them. How can you not wonder about these people that we see everyday, that we may never see again." the boys voice was soft, but filled with a gentle wonderment._

_The older sibling shifted in his seat again. "I don't know. I guess I never really thought of it like that. I mean, like you said, I'll never see them again." _

"_Yes, but just seeing them once is enough. I mean, everyone has a life of their own. It's amazing how many lives can fit in one world, how each one somehow intertwines with another. Every person we see is different, but so much the same." the sunlight glinted off the emerald kissed locks of the boy as he turned his head once more to the window, his mesmerizing eyes transfixed on the passing cars and the people on the sidewalks._

"_Heh. Every life intertwines huh?" the oldest muttered, paraphrasing the younger boy. "You think of the oddest things, Chibisuke. It makes me wonder if you really are ten years old."_

"_Niles says that too." the boy murmured only have been listening to his older brother._

"_Does he? Well, most the time you seem… so much older than you are." the elder paused and reached out to ran his hand over the boys silky hair. "It makes me wonder if you're growing up to fast."_

"_No one can grow up too fast, aniki. Besides, we're never really young. The moment we are born, we are dying. Even that gives me something to wonder about."_

"_So, each day we are dying?"_

"_Getting older each day. Isn't that the same as dying?" he asked his older sibling. "I believe, that everyday, we wear away. We are creatures of habit, that are destined to roam the world looking for something that we don't even know what it is. It all depends on what your something is."_

* * *

Sundays were great in Ryoma's opinion, even though it was only five in the morning, it still counted as Sunday. Ryoma had woke with his head on Yukimura's chest, just the way he had fallen asleep. The covers had been pulled tightly around him, and Yukimura's arm was wrapped securely around Ryoma's shoulders. The gentle rise and fall of Yukimura's steady breathing was comforting to wake up to; almost as comforting as the sound of Yukimura's soft heartbeat under his ear.

He looked up at his buchou, his eyes still tired from sleep. 'Heh, buchou even smiles in his sleep.' Ryoma thought. Sure enough, the beautiful violet haired buchou had a small smile tugging at his lips as he breathed softly in and out. Yukimura's face was entirely relaxed, and Ryoma found that his buchou was very beautiful when he slept, the pre dawn light barely coating the room.

Ryoma shifted slightly, reaching for the camera that lay on the shelf next to the bed. The moment Ryoma moved, Yukimura's arm tighten as though he was worried Ryoma would leave. Chuckling, Ryoma's hand closed around the white Polaroid camera, and he shifted back before placing his eye to the viewfinder. Once the camera was situated just perfectly to capture the sleeping buchou, Ryoma snapped the picture. With a quiet buzz the camera spit out the photograph and Ryoma gently waved it, coaxing it to develop.

The picture slowly formed, it's black fading to a white before showing the color that had been captured on camera. He smiled at the picture, knowing that this new picture of Yukimura laying in his bed, smiling in his sleep, would be a good addition to his wall.

Once Ryoma was satisfied with the result he set the picture on the shelf he had just removed his camera from. Ryoma smiled to himself as he leaned forward and pressed his lips to Yukimura's, hoping to wake him. Ryoma wasn't disappointed when Yukimura gave a light moan and pressed forward into the kiss. He felt his buchou's tired arms come up around him and press his body down closer to the captains own. Ryoma smiled as he pulled back.

"Ne, buchou. Wake up. I want you to come somewhere with me." Ryoma prodded.

"Mmmm?" the captain's eyes remained closed, though he showed signs of waking up.

"Come on." Ryoma persisted. "We'll miss it if we don't leave now."

"Miss what?" Yukimura muttered as he pushed himself into an slouched upright position.

"You'll see. Come on, we have to get dressed."

"I don't have any clothes with me." Yukimura reasoned as he watched Ryoma jump out of bed.

"I have some that will fit you." he said as he disappeared into the large closet. Soon enough the boy returned with a pair of blue jeans and a dark blue long sleeve shirt. "Here. They were Ryoga's, so they should fit you. Hurry up and change, Seiichi." Ryoma called as he disappeared into the closet once more.

The clothing fit, Yukimura decided, as he waited for Ryoma to reappear. 'Five am and he wants to go somewhere… saa. What a strange boy I like.' Shortly after Ryoma reappeared, his own body clad in similar blue jeans, though his had more of a straight legged look to them, and a emerald v-neck long sleeve shirt. Ryoma reached out and grabbed his buchou's hand.

"Come on, we'll miss it."

The streets of Japan were not very busy. In fact, there was barely anyone awake at this point. Stores were closed down, and the sky still cast a dark blue light through the morning.

"Ryo. I hope you didn't bring me out here to play tennis. We don't have our rackets." Yukimura said as he tried to guess as to where Ryoma was taking him. Ryoma gave a melodic laugh as he gently tugged his buchou forward."I wouldn't wake you up at five in the morning to play tennis…" Ryoma claimed. He glanced over at the violet haired teen whose fingers were intertwined with his own. At his buchous reproachful look, Ryoma quickly amended, "Well… I probably would, but not today."

"Hm… then where are we going?" Yukimura asked, still not entirely sure that Ryoma wasn't taking him to a tennis court.

"There." Yukimura followed where Ryoma pointed.

The grassy hill was flattened out at the top and large enough to hold a two person swing set. Yukimura could see the beginnings of the red pre-sunrise light begin to cast over the hills crest.

"Come on, we'll miss it." Ryoma said as he tugged Yukimura into a run. They raced, laughing, up the hill, their fingers still intertwined. They panted as they reached the top, smiling at the pure giddiness that surrounded them. Ryoma set his small drawstring bag on the ground, then tugged Yukimura closer to the swing set and then gently detangled his hands as he gripped the chains of the first swing. With a small jump Ryoma pulled himself up into a ball over the swing, holding on with his hands to the chains, before letting his feet fall to the opposite side of the swing, sitting down faced towards the rising sun. On a smile Ryoma leaned back and gently pushed forward, setting the swing into motion. He turned his head toward Yukimura and smiled winningly. "Care to join me?" he asked, his face highlighted by the soft light.

Yukimura smiled before delicately walking around to the other side of the second swing and sat down. Like Ryoma he gently set the swing into motion. Soon enough both Ryoma and him were swinging higher and higher, trying to see who could reach the highest. The brilliant red/orange sun continued to rise.

"Ne, buchou!" Ryoma laughed out.

"Yes?" Yukimura responded, his face angled towards Ryoma.

"Jump on three!" the younger called back. Despite jumping being potentially dangerous, Yukimura found he couldn't deny Ryoma, not when he looked like this. His black and emerald hair flying around his face, his eyes almost closed as he laughed, his beautiful face lit up with a brilliant smile.

"1...2...3!" Ryoma cried.

Hands slipped from the metal chains of the swings, and for a brief moment, it felt like flying. The wind tugged at their bodies, as they propelled forward. Their feet met the ground and in an instant their knees gave out, causing the boys to collapse and roll with the momentum. Somehow Ryoma ended up under Yukimura, his face flushed and bright with happiness. The laughing faded as the two boys simply laid there, looking at each others face. Ryoma's eyes slid half-closed, his breath coming out shallow.

"Ryo…" Yukimura murmured, his hand lifting to gently cup Ryoma's face. His own eyes felt heavy, as he leaned forward. He gently laid his lips against Ryoma's soft mouth, pressing more firmly at Ryoma's soft moan.

They lay there, gently kissing as the brilliant sun set, spilling light over them.

* * *

"Ne, buchou?" the violet haired teen looked over at Ryoma. They lay in the grass, listening to the sounds of the city waking up.

"Yes?" he asked as he carded his hands through the silky mass of Ryoma's hair. He gently flipped the ends, watching the light highlight the emerald.

"Do you think there is a place for everyone in the world? A place that they are just meant to be?" Ryoma asked.

"Absolutely. If there wasn't a place, where would everyone go?" Yukimura replied, not realizing that Ryoma had asked him a question that Ryoma's elder brother Ryoga had asked him, many years before.

"I don't know, buchou. Maybe they just… disappear." Ryoma murmured. "Maybe it's like they never existed."

* * *

"Hello, can I help you?" a lady in white called as she walked down the hallway.

"No, I'm fine. I know which room I'm looking for, thank you." he responded before continuing to walk down the white corridor, barely noticing the colorful posters that advertised staying healthy and the proper way to wash ones hands.

The corridor seemed to go on forever; white tile after white tile, white wall after blindingly white wall. There were scuffs on the tiles under his feet, black marks that could be buffed out, but were left because there just wasn't any time. He passed hard plastic chairs, that he knew from experience would be too uncomfortable to sit in for more than 5 minutes.

201, 202, 203, 204. The numbers on the white doors passed unheeded, not mattering. 224, 225, 226, 227. At 228 the boy stopped, his body turned toward the door. Music could be heard through the thin door, the soft sounds of a piano. Reaching for the door, he turned the knob and gave a light push.

It was always upsetting to see the monitors, the tubes, the things that were need to live hooked up to someone you cared for. But, Ryoma always was good at hiding his emotions.

"Aniki, how are you feeling today?" he asked as he placed a soft hand on his brother forehead.

"Tired, Chibisuke. Just tired." the man responded. He weakly reached for his younger brother, his hand curling around the boys other hand. Ryoma laced his fingers through his brothers, giving a reassuring squeeze.

"Are they treating you okay here?" Ryoma asked, the hand that he had placed on his brothers forehead slid up to run through soft brown hair.

"Not enough sun light." the boy murmured. "This room doesn't get enough sunlight."

"I'll have you moved, okay aniki?" Ryoma reassured.

"Thanks." the elder murmured weakly. "They… they don't think I'm doing to well." he said quietly. There was silence in the room, sans the beeping of the heart monitor.

"You'll be fine." Ryoma said almost as if reassuring himself this time.

"No. I don't think I will be this time, Chibisuke." Ryoga closed his eyes tiredly. "I really don't think I will be."

Ryoma bent and rest his forehead against his now sleeping brother's.

"You have to be."


	10. Chapter 10

_Chapter X_

"_Ne, Chibisuke?" the air that twirled in a slow dance around them was chilled. It gently pushed leaves about and tugged at the soft hair of the two boys. Through the jacket that clung to his body, the elder of the two suppressed a shiver. _

"_Yes?" the younger of the two sat on the ground, his knees to his chest, arms locked around them. He wore a light jacket and jeans, that barely fought off the cold._

"_What do you think love is?" the elder asked, his hand gently plucking to blades of grass on the partially covered hill that overlooked the busy city that the boys were currently living in. They pulled from the ground with ease, snapping at the base from the cold. The boy continued to pull the short blades even though his fingers were numb and hard to operate properly. The two boys breath slid past their slightly chapped lips, forming little clouds of cool air that were visible even in the bright sunlight. The younger of the boys stared at the city that was busy even despite the cold air that spread a chill through the streets._

"_Feeling philosophical, aniki?" the younger boy asked, as he shifted his focus to the visible air that pushed past his lips. He watched half-heartedly as the leaves that tumbled around, almost joyfully along the hill. _

"_Hmm. I suppose so." the elder of the two muttered as he leaned back onto the palms of his hands. The younger boy chuckled light and tossed his head in a distracted way to shift his bangs away from his face. _

"_Why is that?" he asked without glancing at the lean boy next to him._

"_I think I'm in love."_

"_And?" the younger asked, not at all surprised at the announcement._

"_I… I don't think they know it." the elder admitted shyly. The younger of the two considered this with a low hum. He glanced at this brother now, just a sideways glance at the corner of his eye._

" '_If you love somebody, let them go. If they return, they were always yours. If they don't, they never were.' " the younger quoted. He returned to look over the city, his head tilted back in tired manner._

"_Who said that one?" the elder questioned, knowing his brother affection for quotes._

"_Who? I'm not entirely sure, but it is a rather good quote." the younger replied as his golden eyes slide shut in a moment of exhaustion. There was silence between the two boys for a while as the rustle of the leave twirled about in a dance that was uniquely it's own._

"_What if I don't want to let them go?" the elder whispered quietly, his voice holding a slightly miserable note to it._

"_Then you are both caged birds, unaware of world that surrounds you." the younger replied in a voice that was beyond his years. _

"_Caged birds, huh?" the tanned boy murmured. "That doesn't sound too bad."_

"_You say that now," the younger murmured, "but eventually, even the most domestic bird needs to stretch it's wings." the elder looked at his younger brother, knowing just how tired the younger boy was._

"_Ne, Chibisuke?" the teen asked._

"_Yes?" the other responded warily._

"_What if you don't have wings?"_

* * *

There will always be shades of gray in a persons life, Ryoma thought. From the brilliantly colored to black of pitch, there will always be gray. The spots of your life that you'd just rather forget. Like the desperate clouds that promise rain, they hang over you and while you softly sing, "Rain, rain, go away, come again some other day", the shades of gray seem to remain. Eventually, the rain will fall, and the shades of gray will run into the color of your life.

"Ne, Chibisuke?" the once tan man sat in his new bed, the one that faced the window on the opposite side of the hospital, sunlight pouring through this new window.

"Yes?" the younger looked up from where he sat reading.

"You once said that to die would be an awfully big adventure." he kneaded softly at the blanket that cover his now useless legs. There was silence in the room, only broken by the reassuring sounds of the insistent heart monitor. It wasn't that the younger of the two boys didn't understand the question that was hidden in the statement, it was simply that the more they mentioned it, the more of a reality it became.

"I used to say a lot of things, aniki." the boy replied, purposely ignoring the unspoken question. He fiddled lightly with the edge of his book, noticing the rough edges of the pages were uneven.

"You remember though. I know you do." Ryoga muttered.

"Yeah… I remember." Ryoma said, not denying it.

"It hurts Chibisuke." Ryoga murmured. "It hurts knowing that there is nothing they can do, because they don't know what's wrong. It hurts knowing that I'm slowly dying. That I'm useless."

"You're not useless, aniki." Ryoma said as he leaned forward to gently hold the delicate hand that held the IV in it. "They will find out what's wrong. I'll make sure of it."

"You can't promise that, Chibisuke." Ryoga replied bitterly.

"You have to be okay, aniki. You have to." Ryoma said desperately.

"You had said that we were all dying. From the day we are born, we slowly begin to die." Ryoga muttered as his listless fingers curled up to his brothers hand. "Maybe I'm just dying quicker than others."

"You're not dying!" Ryoma shouted, tears clouding his vision in a rare show of emotion. "You can't. Not without me." he whispered in despair.

Yukimura knew Ryoma hadn't been sleeping well. He could see the delicate purple circles under his eyes, the half-lidded look to his face. Ryoma seemed to move sluggish, yet still just as graceful. Oddly enough, this did nothing to his tennis game. He continued to go up against the regulars, skillfully avoiding any match with Sanada, and he continued to win. At one point Ryoma had become so tired that his eyes had slid shut, and in an amazing feat, he continued to play, continued to win.

Yukimura discovered that he was slowly become obsessed with the young boy that was unofficially declared his boyfriend. He loved to watch Ryoma. Whether it was watching him play tennis, or watching as his beautiful golden eyes would scan his surroundings. No matter what Ryoma did, Yukimura was drawn to it. He had quickly discovered Ryoma's love for grape Ponta, Himalayan cats, and soft, water proof grip tape. He knew Ryoma hated western style food, that he had a fascination with human anatomy, and that he was an adrenaline junkie. It was like a new hobby for Yukimura. Each new thing he learn about Ryoma, no matter how little, seemed to delight him. The more time they spent together, the more open Ryoma became. Yukimura quickly came to realize that, as cliché as it sounded, he believed that he was falling in love with beautiful enigma.

He was entranced, enthralled.

'Enchanted' Yukimura thought as his fingers effortlessly slid along Ryoma's. He gently brushed his hand along Ryoma's cheek. His thumb rubbed gently along the boys soft lips.

"Ryoma." Yukimura murmured against the lips that he had come to know so well. "You captivate me."

* * *

It was like breathing, Ryoma realized. Just being around Yukimura seemed essential. He was addicted. Any moment spent with the older boy was breathtaking. He loved the way Yukimura would watch him in the halls, the way he would pull Ryoma over to lean against him at lunch, the times that the two boys would lay in Ryoma's bedroom on his bed, just pressing soft kisses against each others lips. Ryoma loved how Yukimura's hand and his fit perfectly together, how Yukimura would play with his hair, or just smile at him.

The two boys would spend most their time over at Ryoma's house, or, as per Ryoma's usual, in random places. Polaroids of Yukimura seemed to line Ryoma's walls. Most times they would just lay on Ryoma's bed, or in the grass or where ever they were, just talking. Usually about nothing at all. It often seemed as though they were the only two in the world.

"Sei?" Ryoma murmured his head resting lightly on Yukimura lap. They lay outside, leaning up against blooming cheery blossom.

"Yes?" Yukimura picked up his newest hobby, playing with Ryoma's hair.

"Why do you play tennis?" It was a rather odd question, but, being used to Ryoma, Yukimura didn't seemed deterred.

"To win. That is was Rikkidai is about. It's what we are." This answer seemed so natural that Yukimura barely realized he was saying.

"Winning? Is that all that matters?"

"Of course. If you don't win, what's the point?" Yukimura trailed his fingers over Ryoma's soft neck.

"Hm… what indeed."

* * *

A month passed quickly. The sun beat down on the courts, children study for classes, and the tennis players of Rikkidia continued to win. It was almost as if there was no weakness. Hundreds of student came from all schools to see the legendary matches. To watch the Emperor, The Genius, The Child of God, and, the newest obsession, The Prince.

There was no beating Rikkidai. The was no weakness, no way to win. Rikkidai was unbeatable.

* * *

"Ne, Sei-buchou." Ryoma asked as his fingers linked with Yukimura's. He discreetly ignored the kissey noises that Marui and Niou made in the background.

"Yes, Ryo?" Yukimura asked. They were walking away from the courts, carrying another victory with them.

"Are you feeling alright?" Ryoma asked, his beautiful face tilting up to look at his buchou's.

"I feel a little off, but I'm sure it's nothing to worry about." Yukimura brushed the comment aside.

"Your color is off." Ryoma murmured. They had come to the crosswalk and stood waiting for the cars to pass. Ryoma looked sharply at his buchou when he felt him sway slightly.

"I'm fine." Yukimura stressed gently. Even as he said this, he swayed again, his slim body sliding one way before righting itself. At the sight Sanada moved forward to join the equally concerned Ryoma. Then, suddenly Yukimura crumpled.

As strong arms came around him and darkness closed in, the last thing Yukimura heard was Ryoma's voice, fearfully crying out his name.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter XII

"_Ne, Chibisuke." Golden brown eyes slid over to the small figure that lay prone on the bed next to his own. There was no sunlight in this room, no color, no security; yet even under the harsh fluorescent lights his younger half-brother was still beautiful. _

"_Yes?" only the boys lips moved, his beautiful eyes remained closed, and his body unmoving._

"_You don't have to do this." Tanned fingers clenched anxiously on the thin sheet that covered him. Ryoga shifted his legs and continued to watch his little brother. Surrounded by white, the younger of the too looked angelic, yet exhausted._

"_I know." the ten year olds voice cut the silence that had formed. _

"_Then… why? We're not even sure if it will help." Misery entered the elder brothers voice. He pulled his eyes back to the ceiling, staring at the blinding white tiles that it consisted of. _

"_Because you're my aniki. You're all I have." The answer held no hesitation, no uncertainty, just determination. _

_Silence pulled over the boys, only disrupted by the buzz and beeps of the medical machines. Too sterile, too white, too uncertain; like every other hospital. _

"_Chibisuke?" At the sound of tears in his elder brothers voice, Ryoma's eyes slide open to stare at the ceiling._

"_Yes?" _

"_Are… are you afraid?" the words caused Ryoma's head to turn to look at his aniki. Tears ran down the elders face, hands clenched at the sheets._

"_No. You'll be there with me; just like I always will for you." the younger boy reached over and gently pulled his brothers hand from the sheet, and slipped his fingers securely between the elders own. In an effort to sooth his brother, Ryoma began to gently hum Ryoga's song. _

_Ten minutes later, the nurses wheeled the two boys into surgery for the Intraoperative autologous transfusion. As they were wheeled down the hall, the boys' hands remained clasped, just as they did during the surgery._

* * *

Insomnia became a common factor in Ryoma's life. His mind never seemed to shut off. The circles under his eyes grew and fatigue piled up. Those around him could see the stress that knotted his shoulders, though when asked if he was alright he would wave it off then push himself harder. It was as though he was determined not to break. The tennis team surrounded him between classes, watching out for him; half expecting him to collapse any second. His studies remained top in his class, his tennis stayed unbeatable; it was as if nothing was wrong.

* * *

The room was entirely void of light; the binds drawn, the door closed, nothing but the weak illumination of the machine pierced the darkness. Yukimura Seiichi lay quietly in the darkness, his face streaked with tears, his eyes squeezed tightly shut, his voice still raw from his anguished screams. This was how is boyfriend, Ryoma Echizen, found him.

"Sei." the boys melodic voice broke through the silence, his lithe body poised at the now open door.

"Go away." Yukimura's voice croaked out. Ryoma, however, stepped further into the room and shut the door behind him. "I said go away."

Ryoma merely raised his eyebrow at the harsh raised tone, and walked closer to the bed. "The doctors told me." he said softly.

"Shut up!" Yukimura snapped out, his head twisting side to side on his pillow in denial. "Just shut up!"

"Sei…" Ryoma started.

"I said shut up! Just shut the hell up!"

"Sei, I know what it feels like…"

"How the hell would you know? The doctors haven't just told you that you'll no longer play tennis again! You haven't had you life yanked out from under you! You have a perfect fucking life!"

The room went silent once more. After a moment Yukimura could hear Ryoma walk away, he heard the door open and shut roughly before he brought his hands up to scrub at his face. It didn't take long for his door to swing open again, this time however, Ryoma pushed a wheelchair into the room with him. He shoved the chair up next to the bed and jerked the locks on.

"Get up." Ryoma ordered, his face cold.

"No." Yukimura growled. He gripped his sheets tightly and glared at Ryoma.

"Get the fuck up and out of that god damn bed now." Ryoma's face grew more enraged as Yukimura simply grabbed his sheets tighter and snarled "Fuck off" at Ryoma.

Clearly beyond dealing with Yukimura, Ryoma reached over and grabbed Yukimura by the arm. He jerked Yukimura over to the edge and after a moments struggle Ryoma had managed to muscle the much weaker Yukimura into the chair. He dragged the IV drip over to him and slid behind the chair. Roughly, Ryoma jerked the breaks off and swiveled the chair around and began to push Yukimura and his IV drip out the door.

"What the hell! Turn the hell around." Yukimura snarled, to drained to do much else.

"Shut up." Ryoma growled as he pushed the chair quickly down the hall. It didn't take long for Ryoma to pull the chair to a stop. They were in front of another heavy white door that indicated another patience room.

"Ryoma…" Yukimura warned, but Ryoma ignored him in favor of pushing the door open then pushing Yukimura through.

The first the seemed to register to Yukimura was the light; this room was the exact opposite of his own. The blinds were flicked up, the windows cheerfully open. Similar to Yukimura's room however was the evidence that Ryoma Echizen had, in fact, been there. Pictures littered the room, a tennis magazine lay neatly scattered among random sketches, and sheet music. A chair sat beside the bed, and a grape Ponta can sat forgotten on the bedside table close by. It wasn't until a quiet, weak voice spoke that Yukimura even noticed the young man in the hospital bed.

"Chibisuke?" The resemblance, Yukimura noted, was uncanny. Despite the air of illness the man in the bed carried, he was painfully similar to the boy that was now leaving Yukimura's wheelchair and making his way over to the man in the bed.

"Aniki." Ryoma said softly, causing Yukimura to jerk his head towards him. "How are you?" Ryoma continued softly and pressed a gentle kiss to the sick man's forehead. Yukimura watched silently as Ryoma's hand dropped from the man's face to his hand.

"Tired, Chibisuke." the man replied, "So tired." the voice was defeated, broken and it made Yukimura's heart clench with emotion. This man was dying.

"I'll talk to the doctors. See if there's anything we can do." Ryoma responded, his thumb stroking over the tanned hand on the bed. "It's probably just the new meds."

"It's not the medicine, Ryo." the man replied weakly, "You and I both know it."

"It's just the meds, Ryoga, nothing more." Ryoma's voice seemed to swamp with emotion, as he firmly denied what he was being told. "Just… go back to bed, aniki. I'll talk to the doctors for you." Silence followed the statement, and Yukimura craned his neck to see around Ryoma. Ryoga had his eyes shut but was obviously not sleeping as his forehead furrowed slightly.

"Ne, Chibisuke?"

"Yes, aniki?" Ryoma replied softly.

"I'm… I'm not scared anymore, chibisuke." From his position at the door, Yukimura could see tears slide down the man's face.

"Aniki…"

"No. It's alright Ryo. Really, it is. I… I'm sick of living like this. I'm sick of having to pull you out of your life to take care of mine. I'm not scared anymore, because you stuck with me though all of this. You've been my beautiful baby brother though all of it, and most the time it's you taking care of me, and that's not supposed to be how it is, Ryo. It's just not."

"Ryoga… aniki." The quiet voice that Yukimura had gotten so used to being strong wavered and seemed to get caught as Ryoma tried to continue the conversation, but Ryoga had already fallen asleep, tears still on his achingly similar face.

Silence seem to suffocate Yukimura as he watched Ryoma gently stroke his brothers hand. It wasn't for a long moment did Ryoma turn around to face Yukimura for the first time since entering the room. Ryoma's own tears stained his beautiful face, as he dropped his gaze to the floor.

"Ryoma." Yukimura said softly, his voice cracking slightly. He kept his eyes on Ryoma, not willing to look back at the boy in the bed.

"He's dying." Ryoma murmured, as he looked away from Yukimura. "We've tried everything. Everything." Ryoma's eyelids fluttered while his voice carried exhausted sorrow. "He's not getting better. They don't know what it is."

"How long?" Yukimura murmured.

"How long for what? Seichii?" Ryoma's voice tinged with anger. "How long until he dies? How long has he been like this? Living a life hooked up to monitors, and pumped full of drugs? Years. It seems like it's always been like this. Just Ryoga and I. We're all we have; our parents couldn't take it, didn't know how to deal with it. They started jet setting again, leaving Ryoga in the hospital and me with Niles. But he kept getting worse, with no explanation at all. He…" Ryoma choked slightly and closed his eyes carefully before opening them again. "He was moved from hospital to hospital, specialist to specialist. Everyone had different ideas; new liver, new kidney, blood transfusions, Marrow transplants, everything you can think of. He was happy, Seichii, before all of this. He was popular in school, top in his class, captain of his JV Tennis Team. He wanted to go Pro, even that young. He was vibrant, and happy, and loved. **He** will never play tennis again. You? You'll play again. You're not ill like him. They stick you in rehabilitation for your muscles, you'll have a surgery or two, it will be slow and painful, but you'll be back out of the court."

He glanced at his brother, who lay unmoving on his hospital bed. "You'll be able to feel that thrill again, to hope, to dream of the pro-circuit, to be able to hold a goddamn racket. Ryoga never will; we'll be lucky if he even make it another year, and he's all I have; he's all I've ever had. So don't talk about perfect, Seichii, because you really don't know anything." Ryoma murmured, tears sliding down his face.

"Ryoma." Yukimura murmured softly, he tried to reach out to the younger boy, only to have Ryoma brush past him.

"I'll have a nurse come to help you back to your room." Ryoma muttered, then simply walked down the hallway and out of sight.

It wasn't even five minutes before a nurse with an overly bright smile arrived to take him back to his room. As she wheeled Yukimura down the hall, away from the room with the dying boy, Yukimura gripped the arm rests of the wheelchair and closed his eyes. _"Ryoma"_

* * *

Niles knew something was wrong the minute Ryoma got home. The young master had been stressed ever since Yukimura-san had gotten ill, and Niles had been checking up on Ryoma, to make sure the boy didn't collapse under the stress. Today, seemed to be a bad day for Ryoma though, worse than most days.

Niles became instantly worried when the young master locked himself in his room and asked rather harshly to be left undisturbed. Shortly after the door was closed, music could be heard through the door. It began harshly; loud and ominous, as though Ryoma was slamming his fingers against the keys of the piano. It played fast, the crescendo coming quick and angry; but the more Ryoma played the softer and more sorrowful the music became.

It wasn't until the music stopped and soft sobbing could be heard through the door that Niles pulled the skeleton key for the house out of his pocket. He quickly inserted the key into Ryoma's door and let himself into the pristine room. He let the door shut behind him and he quickly cut across the room to the open area where Ryoma's piano sat.

Ryoma sat at his piano, neither hands touching the elegant keys. The young boy was slightly bent at the waist one arm wrapped around his stomach, the other pressed up to his mouth, trying to muffle the heartbreaking sobs.

Niles stopped his journey for a moment to stare at the young boy crying on the bench; even with tears sliding down his face, Ryoma was still more beautiful than any male Niles had ever seen. It wasn't often that Ryoma cried; in fact Niles had very seldom witnessed it in all his years of carrying for the boy.

"Ryoma." Niles watched as the boy's head snapped around to him.

"Niles. Oh, god." Ryoma whispered past his hand.

"It's okay, Ryoma." Niles said softly as he reached for the boy, pulling him into his arms as he sat on the piano bench. "It will all be okay."

"No, no, no. Niles." Ryoma whimpered, his entire being radiating sorrow.

"What is it? Is it Yukimura-san?" Niles tried, but when the boy shook his head, Niles knew there was only one other thing. He dropped his voice and ran his fingers through the boys ebony locks. "Ryoga?" he asked gently.

Ryoma nodded sharply then let out another soft sob. "Niles, he's dying; he's dying and I can't do anything." Ryoma burrowed into Niles's embrace, his body curling into a defensive position.

"I know, Ryoma. I know. It will be okay." Niles whispers softly and rocked the fragile teen.

They stayed like that for hours; sunlight gently illuminating the elegant room, the piano forgotten, with only the sounds of sorrow filling the room.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter XII

"_Ne, Chibisuke." Golden brown eyes slid over to the small figure that lay prone on the bed next to his own. There was no sunlight in this room, no color, no security; yet even under the harsh fluorescent lights his younger half-brother was still beautiful. _

"_Yes?" only the boys lips moved, his beautiful eyes remained closed, and his body unmoving._

"_You don't have to do this." Tanned fingers clenched anxiously on the thin sheet that covered him. Ryoga shifted his legs and continued to watch his little brother. Surrounded by white, the younger of the too looked angelic, yet exhausted._

"_I know." the ten year olds voice cut the silence that had formed. _

"_Then… why? We're not even sure if it will help." Misery entered the elder brothers voice. He pulled his eyes back to the ceiling, staring at the blinding white tiles that it consisted of. _

"_Because you're my aniki. You're all I have." The answer held no hesitation, no uncertainty, just determination. _

_Silence pulled over the boys, only disrupted by the buzz and beeps of the medical machines. Too sterile, too white, too uncertain; like every other hospital. _

"_Chibisuke?" At the sound of tears in his elder brothers voice, Ryoma's eyes slide open to stare at the ceiling._

"_Yes?" _

"_Are… are you afraid?" the words caused Ryoma's head to turn to look at his aniki. Tears ran down the elders face, hands clenched at the sheets._

"_No. You'll be there with me; just like I always will for you." the younger boy reached over and gently pulled his brothers hand from the sheet, and slipped his fingers securely between the elders own. In an effort to sooth his brother, Ryoma began to gently hum Ryoga's song. _

_Ten minutes later, the nurses wheeled the two boys into surgery for the Intraoperative autologous transfusion. As they were wheeled down the hall, the boys' hands remained clasped, just as they did during the surgery._

* * *

Insomnia became a common factor in Ryoma's life. His mind never seemed to shut off. The circles under his eyes grew and fatigue piled up. Those around him could see the stress that knotted his shoulders, though when asked if he was alright he would wave it off then push himself harder. It was as though he was determined not to break. The tennis team surrounded him between classes, watching out for him; half expecting him to collapse any second. His studies remained top in his class, his tennis stayed unbeatable; it was as if nothing was wrong.

* * *

The room was entirely void of light; the binds drawn, the door closed, nothing but the weak illumination of the machine pierced the darkness. Yukimura Seiichi lay quietly in the darkness, his face streaked with tears, his eyes squeezed tightly shut, his voice still raw from his anguished screams. This was how is boyfriend, Ryoma Echizen, found him.

"Sei." the boys melodic voice broke through the silence, his lithe body poised at the now open door.

"Go away." Yukimura's voice croaked out. Ryoma, however, stepped further into the room and shut the door behind him. "I said go away."

Ryoma merely raised his eyebrow at the harsh raised tone, and walked closer to the bed. "The doctors told me." he said softly.

"Shut up!" Yukimura snapped out, his head twisting side to side on his pillow in denial. "Just shut up!"

"Sei…" Ryoma started.

"I said shut up! Just shut the hell up!"

"Sei, I know what it feels like…"

"How the hell would you know? The doctors haven't just told you that you'll no longer play tennis again! You haven't had you life yanked out from under you! You have a perfect fucking life!"

The room went silent once more. After a moment Yukimura could hear Ryoma walk away, he heard the door open and shut roughly before he brought his hands up to scrub at his face. It didn't take long for his door to swing open again, this time however, Ryoma pushed a wheelchair into the room with him. He shoved the chair up next to the bed and jerked the locks on.

"Get up." Ryoma ordered, his face cold.

"No." Yukimura growled. He gripped his sheets tightly and glared at Ryoma.

"Get the fuck up and out of that god damn bed now." Ryoma's face grew more enraged as Yukimura simply grabbed his sheets tighter and snarled "Fuck off" at Ryoma.

Clearly beyond dealing with Yukimura, Ryoma reached over and grabbed Yukimura by the arm. He jerked Yukimura over to the edge and after a moments struggle Ryoma had managed to muscle the much weaker Yukimura into the chair. He dragged the IV drip over to him and slid behind the chair. Roughly, Ryoma jerked the breaks off and swiveled the chair around and began to push Yukimura and his IV drip out the door.

"What the hell! Turn the hell around." Yukimura snarled, to drained to do much else.

"Shut up." Ryoma growled as he pushed the chair quickly down the hall. It didn't take long for Ryoma to pull the chair to a stop. They were in front of another heavy white door that indicated another patience room.

"Ryoma…" Yukimura warned, but Ryoma ignored him in favor of pushing the door open then pushing Yukimura through.

The first the seemed to register to Yukimura was the light; this room was the exact opposite of his own. The blinds were flicked up, the windows cheerfully open. Similar to Yukimura's room however was the evidence that Ryoma Echizen had, in fact, been there. Pictures littered the room, a tennis magazine lay neatly scattered among random sketches, and sheet music. A chair sat beside the bed, and a grape Ponta can sat forgotten on the bedside table close by. It wasn't until a quiet, weak voice spoke that Yukimura even noticed the young man in the hospital bed.

"Chibisuke?" The resemblance, Yukimura noted, was uncanny. Despite the air of illness the man in the bed carried, he was painfully similar to the boy that was now leaving Yukimura's wheelchair and making his way over to the man in the bed.

"Aniki." Ryoma said softly, causing Yukimura to jerk his head towards him. "How are you?" Ryoma continued softly and pressed a gentle kiss to the sick man's forehead. Yukimura watched silently as Ryoma's hand dropped from the man's face to his hand.

"Tired, Chibisuke." the man replied, "So tired." the voice was defeated, broken and it made Yukimura's heart clench with emotion. This man was dying.

"I'll talk to the doctors. See if there's anything we can do." Ryoma responded, his thumb stroking over the tanned hand on the bed. "It's probably just the new meds."

"It's not the medicine, Ryo." the man replied weakly, "You and I both know it."

"It's just the meds, Ryoga, nothing more." Ryoma's voice seemed to swamp with emotion, as he firmly denied what he was being told. "Just… go back to bed, aniki. I'll talk to the doctors for you." Silence followed the statement, and Yukimura craned his neck to see around Ryoma. Ryoga had his eyes shut but was obviously not sleeping as his forehead furrowed slightly.

"Ne, Chibisuke?"

"Yes, aniki?" Ryoma replied softly.

"I'm… I'm not scared anymore, chibisuke." From his position at the door, Yukimura could see tears slide down the man's face.

"Aniki…"

"No. It's alright Ryo. Really, it is. I… I'm sick of living like this. I'm sick of having to pull you out of your life to take care of mine. I'm not scared anymore, because you stuck with me though all of this. You've been my beautiful baby brother though all of it, and most the time it's you taking care of me, and that's not supposed to be how it is, Ryo. It's just not."

"Ryoga… aniki." The quiet voice that Yukimura had gotten so used to being strong wavered and seemed to get caught as Ryoma tried to continue the conversation, but Ryoga had already fallen asleep, tears still on his achingly similar face.

Silence seem to suffocate Yukimura as he watched Ryoma gently stroke his brothers hand. It wasn't for a long moment did Ryoma turn around to face Yukimura for the first time since entering the room. Ryoma's own tears stained his beautiful face, as he dropped his gaze to the floor.

"Ryoma." Yukimura said softly, his voice cracking slightly. He kept his eyes on Ryoma, not willing to look back at the boy in the bed.

"He's dying." Ryoma murmured, as he looked away from Yukimura. "We've tried everything. Everything." Ryoma's eyelids fluttered while his voice carried exhausted sorrow. "He's not getting better. They don't know what it is."

"How long?" Yukimura murmured.

"How long for what? Seichii?" Ryoma's voice tinged with anger. "How long until he dies? How long has he been like this? Living a life hooked up to monitors, and pumped full of drugs? Years. It seems like it's always been like this. Just Ryoga and I. We're all we have; our parents couldn't take it, didn't know how to deal with it. They started jet setting again, leaving Ryoga in the hospital and me with Niles. But he kept getting worse, with no explanation at all. He…" Ryoma choked slightly and closed his eyes carefully before opening them again. "He was moved from hospital to hospital, specialist to specialist. Everyone had different ideas; new liver, new kidney, blood transfusions, Marrow transplants, everything you can think of. He was happy, Seichii, before all of this. He was popular in school, top in his class, captain of his JV Tennis Team. He wanted to go Pro, even that young. He was vibrant, and happy, and loved. **He** will never play tennis again. You? You'll play again. You're not ill like him. They stick you in rehabilitation for your muscles, you'll have a surgery or two, it will be slow and painful, but you'll be back out of the court."

He glanced at his brother, who lay unmoving on his hospital bed. "You'll be able to feel that thrill again, to hope, to dream of the pro-circuit, to be able to hold a goddamn racket. Ryoga never will; we'll be lucky if he even make it another year, and he's all I have; he's all I've ever had. So don't talk about perfect, Seichii, because you really don't know anything." Ryoma murmured, tears sliding down his face.

"Ryoma." Yukimura murmured softly, he tried to reach out to the younger boy, only to have Ryoma brush past him.

"I'll have a nurse come to help you back to your room." Ryoma muttered, then simply walked down the hallway and out of sight.

It wasn't even five minutes before a nurse with an overly bright smile arrived to take him back to his room. As she wheeled Yukimura down the hall, away from the room with the dying boy, Yukimura gripped the arm rests of the wheelchair and closed his eyes. _"Ryoma"_

* * *

Niles knew something was wrong the minute Ryoma got home. The young master had been stressed ever since Yukimura-san had gotten ill, and Niles had been checking up on Ryoma, to make sure the boy didn't collapse under the stress. Today, seemed to be a bad day for Ryoma though, worse than most days.

Niles became instantly worried when the young master locked himself in his room and asked rather harshly to be left undisturbed. Shortly after the door was closed, music could be heard through the door. It began harshly; loud and ominous, as though Ryoma was slamming his fingers against the keys of the piano. It played fast, the crescendo coming quick and angry; but the more Ryoma played the softer and more sorrowful the music became.

It wasn't until the music stopped and soft sobbing could be heard through the door that Niles pulled the skeleton key for the house out of his pocket. He quickly inserted the key into Ryoma's door and let himself into the pristine room. He let the door shut behind him and he quickly cut across the room to the open area where Ryoma's piano sat.

Ryoma sat at his piano, neither hands touching the elegant keys. The young boy was slightly bent at the waist one arm wrapped around his stomach, the other pressed up to his mouth, trying to muffle the heartbreaking sobs.

Niles stopped his journey for a moment to stare at the young boy crying on the bench; even with tears sliding down his face, Ryoma was still more beautiful than any male Niles had ever seen. It wasn't often that Ryoma cried; in fact Niles had very seldom witnessed it in all his years of carrying for the boy.

"Ryoma." Niles watched as the boy's head snapped around to him.

"Niles. Oh, god." Ryoma whispered past his hand.

"It's okay, Ryoma." Niles said softly as he reached for the boy, pulling him into his arms as he sat on the piano bench. "It will all be okay."

"No, no, no. Niles." Ryoma whimpered, his entire being radiating sorrow.

"What is it? Is it Yukimura-san?" Niles tried, but when the boy shook his head, Niles knew there was only one other thing. He dropped his voice and ran his fingers through the boys ebony locks. "Ryoga?" he asked gently.

Ryoma nodded sharply then let out another soft sob. "Niles, he's dying; he's dying and I can't do anything." Ryoma burrowed into Niles's embrace, his body curling into a defensive position.

"I know, Ryoma. I know. It will be okay." Niles whispers softly and rocked the fragile teen.

They stayed like that for hours; sunlight gently illuminating the elegant room, the piano forgotten, with only the sounds of sorrow filling the room.


	13. Chapter 13

_Chapter XIII_

_The sound of silence hollowed the air; it ate away at the oxygen, leaving nothing to breath. In a desperate effort to fill the room, to breath once more, delicate hands lifted to the ivory keys that lay before the thin body of a 15 year old boy. With a necessary inhale the hands began to move, fingers pressing gently onto the keys, moving with an ease that came only from years of practice and with that gentle urging, music pour into the air, chasing away the hollowness that stilled hearts. _

_The pale, delicate hands moved over the keys, never once hesitating or fumbling. On and on the music rang; a haunting piece, one that the boy at the keys had taken to playing often, filtered through the strings and swirled with the sunlight that streamed into the beautiful room. _

_The music slid along the air, wrapping around the almost entirely motionless body that lay on the settee that sat not far from the piano and the boy. After a few moments of nothing but the music and the gentle inhale of the two boys, the figure on the settee turn its head toward the boy at the ivory keys. Ryoga Echizen watched as his baby brother played his piece, watched the way the light danced across the 10 year old's unique hair and beautiful face, watched as the young pianist eyes stayed shut as his hands moved perfectly and the music play as though just to please him. _

"_Ne, Chibisuke?" Ryoga said softly. He allowed his eyes to remain on his brother, his chest slowly rising and falling with each breath he had left. Despite his call, the music still played and the boy did not turn but played a bit louder, the haunting sound continuing. "Chibisuke." he tried again after clearing his throat, but still the musics played just a bit louder than before. "Chibisuke!" Ryoga raised his voice over the music only for his little brother to play louder still, slamming his fingers onto the keys as the sound changed from it's original haunting sound to an aggressive tune, drowning out anything Ryoga may have to say. "Ryoma!" he finally tries, his body straining with the effort. _

_The music came to a abrupt stop, Ryoma pounding his hands onto the keys under his fingers leaving a disjointed, aggressive sound echoing throughout the expansive room. "It's not fair." Ryoma said softly, his voice barely carrying over the remained of the sound. _

"_Ryoma" Ryoga responded, his voice lowering from his previous shout. _

"_No. It's not fair. I won't let it happen." Ryoma cut his brother off. His fingers slid from the keys to rest on the bench he sat upon. His shoulders hunched and his head dropped down as he fought his anger. _

"_Not everything is fair, Chibisuke, and this is one of those things." Ryoga tried to reason._

"_No! What did we, you, ever do to deserve this? Why you?" Ryoma growled back, his body whipping around on the bench to face his brother. Tears dripped down his face, even as his face scrunched up in anger. _

"_It happens to everyone, Chibisuke. Some just faster than others. We've tried everything, and they can't find anything, Ryoma. We have to learn to accept that I'm as good as dea-"_

"_Shut up!" Ryoma cut him off, his hand curling into fists as he glared at his brother, "We will find something, we'll figure this out, just you and me like it's always been." _

_There was momentary silence, as though Ryoga forgot he could speak. He blinked owlishly as his brother before letting his eyes slide shut and turning his head straight to face the ceiling. _

"_Will you play for me?" Ryoga asked, his eyes still shut._

"_I always play for you, Ryoga." Ryoma answered back, his tone annoyed at the chance of subject._

"_Not tennis, Chibisuke." _

"_The piano? What do you want to hear?" Ryoma replied as he turned back to the keys._

"_Not now, Ryo. Later. At my funeral." Ryoga said softly. "I always hoped you would. My song, you know?" Tears dripped out of the closed eye lids, trailing down the tanned face of the older brother. _

_Ryoma turned once more on his bench, his body slumped in anguish. "Yeah." Ryoma responded, tears in his eyes, "I'll play for you, Ryoga. I'll play for you in seventy, eighty years at your funeral." _

_Ryoga opened his eyes at his brother disregard for his impending death, at his defiant declaration that he would live another seventy or eighty years. "Ryo." he whispered as he looked at his baby brother. They stared at each other in silence for a while before Ryoma began to openly cry. Tear streamed silently down the beautiful face of Ryoma Echizen, though no sound was made until Ryoga opened his arms and Ryoma sobbed as he curled up on the settee with his beloved older brother. _

_After a few moments, Ryoma's sobbed dwindled down to sniffles and he swiped his nose with the back of his hand. "What am I going to do without you, Ryoga?" he asked, his voice that of a small child, his hands clutching at his brother as though he were to leave him the moment he let go. _

"_Live, Ryo. Live for me. Go out and take the world by storm, go to college, fall in love, do everything, everything, Chibisuke, that you were meant to do. And know that I'll never really leave you, because you're my baby brother, my Chibisuke."_

_In the fading sunlight, two boys, far to young to be saying goodbye, clung to each other, not speaking, just listening to the silence that hollowed the air._

* * *

No one had heard from Ryoma Echizen in days. Teammates from school who came to the Echizen household were politely turned away, having been told that 'the young master was ill and unable to receive guests at the current time, but thank you for the concern' by a very straight-laced butler who answered the door every time. At one point Marui had tried to force his way into the house only to be easily removed from the premises, proving to the team that the Echizen fortress was impenetrable, keeping the young prince locked away.

The coach of the tennis team had notified the young men that Echizen was in fact ill but not to worry as the boy would be back in time for his spot for the upcoming preliminary district tournament. Teachers brushed off any comments or questioned made by Ryoma's classmates, having been informed that the boy would not be in class for a while and Ryoma's homework for the next few weeks having been collected by a butler that turned up at the school to represent the Echizens.

"Ill, ill, ill. That's all anyone will say!" Marui cried in frustration as he smacked the tennis ball back to Kirihara's side of the court.

"Maybe he really is ill, Marui." Sanada muttered from his spot on the sidelines, "Akaya, your hand dipped too low on that last shot." he corrected as Marui gained control of the game and slammed the ball back at Kirihara, gaining a point due to Kirihara's poor form.

Kirihara huffed and moved to the baseline to serve his ball, bouncing it aggressively against the court. "Maybe he's just being a brat and doesn't want to come to school or practice because he's such a genius and a prodigy." he sneered, as he served sarcasm entering his voice.

"Akaya! You did it again." Sanada corrected once more as Kirihara dipped his hand too low, forcing the ball high in a lob.

Marui, spotting his chance, leaped for the ball, smacking it into the court on Kirihara's side, gaining his point once more before landing, popping his gum and smirking as he watch Kirihara get scolded for poor form. Normally, Marui wouldn't play without Jackal, however as the team sat at the tennis courts by the train station waiting to visit Yukimura at the hospital, Jackal decided he did not want to play which left Marui to goad Kirihara into playing, which didn't take much doing.

After a few moments more, Yanagi announced that it was time to board the train and all conversation of Echizen was forgotten until the team reached the train. As they swayed with the movement of the train, Niou absentmindedly mentioned he hoped Echizen wasn't seriously ill, leaving the conversation open to talk about Echizen again.

"There is a 35 percent chance that Echizen has caught a virus." Yanagi rattled off as he gripped the safety rail tighter at a particularly sharp turn.

"35 percent?" Yagyuu murmured, "that's rather low. So, it's possible it is like Kirihara said, that Echizen is just skipping."

Kirihara smiled smugly for a moment before Yanagi interrupted him. "Doubtful. It would be highly out of Echizen's character to ignore his responsibilities. There is a 61 percent chance that there is another important reason for Echizen's disappearance, leaving a 4 percent chance he is simply skipping." he said, adjusting his bag on his shoulders ignoring Kirihara's childish scowl and the way he pouted.

After that the conversation slowly faded into an agreement to ask Yukimura if he had seen his boyfriend recently when they reached the hospital.

* * *

Ignoring the sterile smell of the hospital they walked through the halls completely used to the glaring white of the walls at this point. Reaching Yukimura's room, they knocked and waited for the soft call of their captain before entering.

The first thing they noticed was the light. After Yukimura received the news about his illness he had taken to keeping the blinds closed and the light off, this time, however, Yukimura lay on his hospital bed staring quietly out the open window. The blinds had been opened and sunlight poured into the standard hospital room. Their captain sat still on the bed, blankets pulled up smoothly to his waist, hands resting at his sides. His hair was devoid of his usual headband and curled delicately around his face. Rather than look at his team that had walked in the room, Yukimura continued to stare out the window, his face blank and soft.

"Sei." Sanada muttered to gain his friends attention, watching as it took Yukimura a moment to pull his attention from the sunlight. It surprised the team to see their buchou give them a small smile.

"Hello." his said in his soft voice letting it drift throughout the room.

"Hey Buchou!" Marui bounced forward through the crowd of his teammates, happy for his captains more accepting mood today. "Feelin' any better today?"

"A little, Bunta." Yukimura replied, shifting a bit on his bed. "My body is the same, but... today seems better somehow. Perhaps its the sunlight..." he trailed off, his head turning back to the window for a moment before focusing back on his team. "How has everything at the club been going?"

"Good. Kirihara is starting to slack though, Sanada said so." Marui smirked, trying to rile Kirihara up for his entertainment.

"I am not, buchou! Don't listen to that little bubble-gum eatin' freak!" Kirihara snarled in his defense, rising perfectly to Marui's bait. It didn't take long for Niou to latch on to the atmosphere and quickly imitate Sanada and his imposing presence.

"'Your hand is dipping low on that last swing.'" Niou scowled in a very Sanada-esque way, quoting the fuku-buchou.

"Shut up!" Kirihara growled, his cheeks tingeing red with anger and embarrassment.

"Enough." Sanada stepped forward, even as Yukimura chuckled at his teams antics. "The team has been good. We will bring you back a win for prelims."

"Good. I expect nothing less." Yukimura smiled at his team.

"Well, we would be able to guarantee a win more confidently if we knew what Echizen has been doing..." Yagyuu mentioned, "Speaking of which, have you seen him recently?"

Yukimura frowned at the questioned and let his gaze turn towards the window once more.

"Seiichi." Sanada prodded for an answer, watching as Yukimura closed his eyes tiredly holding them shut for a moment and breathing softly before opening them again to continue to look out at the sky.

"He was here a few days ago." Yukimura muttered after another moment. "We... had a disagreement."

"Disagreement?" Sanada scowled, his face going dark. "What did he do?" he growled.

"Nothing. Just... nothing." Yukimura murmured in response. "I was the one who... I was being selfish and wallowing in my pity. Ryoma showed me that... that things weren't as horrible as they appeared. That I would heal."

"So what was the disagreement over, buchou?" Jackal asked quietly from the corner he occupied.

"I.. its not my place to really tell the full story..." Yukimura said turning away from the windows and looking at his team once more.

"But-" Marui started only to be cut off by Yukimura.

"How about a walk?" he asked, pushing the covers off of him and slowly moving his legs to the edge of the bed. "I can't really walk much yet but I'll take my chair and it will be nice to get out of this room for a bit. Gen, help me up, please."

Sanada, scowling slightly, moved to his best friend and helped him into the wheel chair that sat by the bed. After rearranging the IVs and tubes, the team followed their buchou as Sanada wheeled him out of the room. They walked down the hall for a bit, talking about random events that had happened to them at school or practice or home, just mindless talk between a group of friends. It wasn't until they were further down the hall that they heard the music.

It filled the hall, muffled as it was. At first it sounded like just a piano playing but the further down the hall they walked the louder the music grew, a voice joining the music.

'_I am a question to the world, not an answer to be heard.  
All a moment that's held in your arms. And what do you think you'd ever say?  
I won't listen anyway…You don't know me,  
And I'll never be what you want me to be. '_

As they neared the door that the sound came from, Yukimura took control of his chair, leaving Sanada to push the IV bag along with him.

_'And what do you think you'd understand? I'm a boy, no, I'm a man.._

_You can take me and throw me away. _

_And how can you learn what's never shown?  
Yeah, you stand here on your own. They don't know me 'cause I'm not here._ _'_

They stopped in front of the door, quietly listening to the soft voice that sang the gentle song. After a few more bars, Yukimura reached for the door knob.

"Seiichi." Sanada hissed quietly, reaching out to stop his friends hand.

"It's alright." Yukimura answered softly and quietly opened the door, let the sunlight pour into the hallway.

_'And I want a moment to be real, wanna touch things I don't feel, wanna hold on and feel I belong.  
And how can the world want me to change, they're the ones that stay the same.  
The don't know me, 'cause I'm not here. '_

Ryoma Echizen sat the the bedside of a young man who was pale under his tan. He played the song on a portable keyboard, his hand moving lightly over the keys as he sang to the seemingly sleeping man. A Ponta can sat on the bed side table and crumbled sheets of music lay about near the trash can and around the keyboard. A tennis magazine sat upside down on one of the chairs in the room. The windows were wide open and a breezed moved through the room.

'_They can't tell me who to be,'cause I'm not what they see.  
And the world is still sleepin', while I keep on dreamin' for me.  
And their words are just whispers and lies that I'll never believe.' _

Ryoma trailed off, his fingers playing the melody a bit longer before stopping, picking up the pencil sitting next to him and writing in a few more notes on the sheet work in front of him.

"It's good." the man in the bed said without opening his eyes. He turned his head towards where Ryoma would be and smiled softly. "But then its always good."

"It needs to be finished... I'll figure it out, I guess." They watched as Ryoma smiled as the man chuckled weakly at Ryoma's comment. It was then that the team noticed how tired Ryoma looked. While still beautiful, dark circles hung around his golden, red rimmed eyes, his hair showed signs of fingers having been run through it. His plain black v-neck was wrinkled, while his black pants hung a little loose around his slim frame. Ryoma shifted slightly and dragged his hand through his hair again before rolling his shoulders to crack his back. As he moved his neck to loosen it up he spotted his team mates in the hall, standing in the door frame.

"Guests, Ryoga." Ryoma said softly, standing to move his chair closer to the bed. The man in the bed slowly opened his eyes, revealing the eyes so much like Ryoma's. There was no mistaking that the two boys were related.

"Friends of yours, Chibisuke?" Ryoga murmured, a soft smile overtaking his face. Ryoma paused for a moment before nodding.

"Yeah. Team mates." He replied. "Come on in." he motioned to his team, watching as they awkwardly shuffled, or in Yukimura's case, rolled into the room. "This is my brother, Ryoga." Ryoma explained. "Ryoga, these are my friends, and my... boyfriend." he gestured hesitantly to Yukimura as though asking if they were still together. Yukimura nodded softly, before shifting his chair closer to Ryoma and Ryoga.

"Boyfriend, huh?" Ryoga smiled, his eyebrows wagging mischievously before tiredly glancing at Yukimura's wheelchair. "Not looking so good there, sport." he murmured.

"I have Guillian-Barre Syndrome." Yukimura supplied. Oddly enough Ryoga began to chuckle weakly.

"I'm not laughing at your illness, I'm sorry for that. I'm just laughing at Ryo, here. Or more so his luck. He always manages to get the damaged ones. Poor kid." he quickly supplied seeing the offended looks on the faces of Ryoma's teammates.

"You're not damaged. Neither of you." Ryoma muttered in his defense.

"No? We look pretty damaged to me." Ryoga replied still smiling.

"Well... in my defense, neither of you were damaged when I got you." Ryoma bantered childlishly back at his brother, enjoying the smile that graced his brothers face.

After a few moments of laughter, Ryoga let his gaze slide across the rest of the boys' in his room. "And they are?"

"My teammates." Ryoma replied before introducing them one by one to his brother. They spoke genially to each other before the room grew quiet. It was a few long moments of watching Ryoma rubbing his absentmindedly against his brothers hand that he clasped on the bed spread.

"What..." Kirihara started before falling silent again. However, having been the only one who spoke during the silence, all attention turned to him so he cleared his throat uncomfortably. "What... ah. What's... you know..."

"What's wrong with me?" Ryoga filled in, sighing as Kirihara nodded tightly. "Kirihara, is it?" Ryoga questioned before continuing at another nod from Kirihara. "We don't know what's wrong with me." he said as he looked over at Ryoma who had taken to staring down at the bed sheet. "But it doesn't look good."

For once Ryoma didn't argue over Ryoga's condition, didn't tell Ryoga that it was just his medicine or that they would find a cure soon, this time, Ryoma just stared dispassionately at the sheet.

"Are you... are you dying?" Kirihara continued.

Silence reined over the room, and it seemed as though the air thickened in the small space. The team watched as Ryoga looked over at Ryoma, and Ryoma breathed in the heavy air before exhaling harshly.

"Yeah. He's dying." Ryoma replied looking up at Kirihara.

* * *

The team sat out in the sun. Scattered throughout the court yard of the hospital they watched the world go about it's day. Ryoma sat next to Yukimura, his hand intertwined with the violet haired man's.

"You told me you hadn't seen him in years." Yukimura murmured, his thumb moving over Ryoma's hand.

"I lied." Ryoma replied frankly. "It's easier to tell people that he ran away, then to have to explain why he's in the hospital and have to watch them pity us. And I'm usually not in one place long enough for anyone to find out any different."

"What do you mean?" Yanagi ask, falling into his most comfortable state of mentally gathering information on the boy.

"We move a lot. I've been almost everywhere you can think of, whether it's just to visit or stay." he shrugged as though moving was something that other kids did all the time.

"Is that why you've been missing?" Marui asked, his voice more sedate than usual.

"Yeah. Ryoga has gotten worse recently, I need to be here for him. I'm having the doctors run some more tests on him tomorrow that I want to be here for..."

"What are they testing for?" Sanada muttered.

"Everything. He's getting a full work-up. Maybe with the new meds he's on something will show." Ryoma didn't sound too hopeful though. "It will take the full day because he's so weak that he needs rest in between tests. But I should be back at school after that."

"And the tournament?" Jackal asked. "No one would blame you for backing out." The team nodded in agreement and Yukimura tightened his hold on Ryoma's hand in support.

"No, I'll be there. I promised Ryoga a long time ago that I would play for him. He'd like to have been able to go. Perhaps I can tape it and bring it in for him to see... I used to do that all the time when he first got sick."

"We can definitely tape it for you, Echizen." Yagyuu responded.

"And what about Buchou?" Kirihara asked, "Are you going to be able to go? I know you can't... you know, play, but to watch?"

"I will be there, Akaya." Yukimura responded, his tone gentle as always.

"We've still got a week to prepare. Echizen, I realize this is a hard time for you but have you been keeping up on your tennis?" Sanada questioned.

"Yes. Benefits of having a tennis court in your backyard." Ryoma murmured as he dropped his head to Yukimura's shoulder.

The team fell into mindless chatter about the upcoming tournament, and it was several minutes before Yukimura quietly asked everyone to excuse Ryoma and himself. Catching onto the slight tension between the boys Yanagi and Sanada ushered everyone inside to go get some food from the cafeteria.

Ryoma and Yukimura sat in silence for a while, just holding hands and watching the sky for a bit before Ryoma started talking.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you..." he said quietly his eyes still watching the clouds. "I shouldn't have been so rough or left you in Ryoga's room either."

"It's fine, Ryo. I'm... I'm sorry about your brother, and the things I said to you." Yukimura returned as he turned to face Ryoma. They drifted into a comfortable silence once more before Yukimura fell into his old pattern of not being able to control what he says around Ryoma, which caused him to simply blurt out, "Kami, you're pretty."

Despite his embarrassment, Yukimura was happy he said it as Ryoma burst out laughing. "You're so weird, Seiichi." Ryoma chuckled, turning to face his captain. His giggles subsided as he stared at his beautiful boyfriend. "I missed you, Seiichi."

"I missed you too, Ryoma. I was so worried that we were done when you left. It took me a long time to think about everything you said...You were right though. I'll get better. I'm going to play in Nationals, Ryoma, right along side you. We're going to win."

"Winning isn't everything, Sei. Its playing that matters. The ability to play. You're going to have to give that up for a little bit to get better, but I'll be here with you, and I'll be there when you take you first swing of that racket when you're all better; when you're able to grip the handle and re-learn how it feels to fall in love with the game all over again." Ryoma answered.

"I think I'd like that, Ryo. I think I'd really like that." Seiichi replied as he leaned of the arm of his wheelchair and pressed gentle kiss to Ryoma's soft lips. They kissed briefly before pulling back and looking at each other, then, Ryoma reached forward, grabbed the back of Yukimura's head and pulled him close again, sealing their lips together once more.

It was minutes before they pulled apart again, panting and gripping lightly onto each other. Somehow, Ryoma had been moved from his previous spot beside Yukimura to sit on his boyfriend's lap. Chuckling lightly at the situation they were in, Ryoma grinned before simply saying, "I suppose we can win Nationals while we are at it." That was all it took for Yukimura to start laughing, his melodic tone drifting across the courtyard.


	14. Chapter 14

_Chapter XIV_

"_Hey, Chibisuke!" Ryoga waved wildly at the younger boy, his brilliant smile lighting up his face. "Play a match with me!"_

"_Yadda. Aniki is mean." the seven year old pouted, his arms crossing over his small chest. He turned away from where his older brother stood, not seeing the older boy begin to jog over until he was suddenly scooped up from the ground. "Aniki! Put me down, put me down!" the boy screeched even as laughter entered his voice._

"_Yadda, yadda, yadda. Why would I put my adorable little brother down when I can have him allllll to myself." the elder responded as he began to twirl in circles, holding his baby brother close to his chest, listening as his little brother squealed in delight as he was spun around in tight circles. _

_After a few minutes the two boys collapsed into the grass, laughing breathlessly as the world spun dizzily around them. _

"_Ne, Chibisuke. Play a match with me." Ryoga demanded again, his face alight with laughter and sunlight. _

"_Okay, aniki. But if I win you owe me Ponta!" the younger boy proclaimed, jumping to his feet. _

"_Deal!" Ryoga agreed as they raced for the tennis courts on the grounds. _

_It wasn't long before the two boys were immersed entirely in the game. Sweat dripped off their young bodies, and muscles stretched perfectly with each returned ball. They race around their courts, their bodies alight with a love for the game. _

"_Ne, Chibisuke!" Ryoga called as he shot the ball back to the others side of the court. _

"_Yes?" Ryoma responded as the ball connected with his racket. He let his wrist twist a bit on impact, before sending the ball back to his older brother. The ball bounced into the court, and just as Ryoga was reaching to return the ball it twisted and shot away from him, gaining a point for Ryoma._

"_Tennis is fun, isn't it, Chibisuke?" Ryoga breathed as he stared at the ball that had now rolled out of the court. _

"_Tennis is fun, Aniki."_

* * *

"Echizen! Ne, Echizen!" Ryoma gave a small groan of disagreement before rolling over on to his stomach, and burying his head in his arms. "Echizen! Sanada fuku-buchou! He won't wake up, lazy brat..." This time the voice was more defined in Ryoma's mind and he knew is was Marui-sempai trying to wake him now. Knowing who it was didn't change anything for Ryoma though and he continued to ignore the whining sempai in favor of trying to slip back into sleep.

"Echizen." This time the voice was clear, deep and completely commanding. Sanada.

"Wake up."

Ryoma weighed his options; either he could give up on his nap, and go practice, or continue to nap. The latter option seems so much more beneficial. Regardless, Ryoma rolled back over onto his back, blinking up at his sempai who thankfully blocked the sunlight out of Ryoma's eyes.

"40 laps for sleeping when you should have been at practice." Sanada ordered before moving away from the boy, sunlight instantly flooding Ryoma's vision.

"Dammit." Ryoma muttered then shoved himself to his feet and began his laps around the courts.

The Kanto Tournament was approaching fast and Sanada had been even more demanding lately. They had a tradition to uphold, and a win that needed to be brought back to Seiichi. It was rotten luck that Seiichi had been scheduled for surgery the same day as the tournament. They all wanted to be there while their buchou went in, and came out, of surgery, but with the Kanto Tournament, that would be difficult. The regulars already decided that they would go visit Yukimura earlier in the morning before they left for the tournament, and then it went without saying that there was to be no mercy during the tournament. They were to be the winners. They would have that win waiting for Seiichi when he emerged.

The line up was simple; Doubles 2 would be Niou/Yanagi vs Inui/Kaidoh, Doubles 1 being Jackal/Marui vs Seigaku's Golden Pair. Singles 3 would be Kirihara vs Takashi followed by Singles 2 Sanada vs Fuji finally ending with Singles 1 being Tezuka vs Ryoma. Rikkiadai had no intention of letting it get to Ryoma's match, they would claim victory at Sanada's match. There was no doubt.

* * *

"Ne, Sei?" blankets rustled as the two bodies on the hospital bed moved closer to one another.

"Yes, Ryo?" Yukimura brought his hand up to tangle in Ryoma's hair, letting the silky strands glide over his fingertips. It was midnight and Ryoma's should have already been home, but the young boy decided to surprise Yukimura by once again scaling the walls of the hospital and sliding in after hours. The boy had all his tennis gear and clothing for tomorrow, stating that tomorrow would be a big day for both of them, and Ryoma didn't see the point in sleeping apart from each other when they would just see each other in the morning. Ryoma the proceeded to crawl under the covers with Yukimura, pressing his ear to Yukimura's steady heart.

"Do you think tennis is fun?" Ryoma's hand had long since slipped underneath Yukimura's shirt, his fingers dancing along his boyfriend's hip bone in disjointed patterns.

"Fun? Ryo, winning is fun, tennis is the means to win." Yukimura responded, his breath hitching a little as Ryoma's soft fingertips traveled up his side to play along his ribs.

"Is that all it is? A means to win?" at this, Ryoma brought his head off of his buchou's chest, to stare down at Yukimura.

"Winning makes me happy. It means I'm the best at what I've done, that everything I have put into it has paid off."

"Mmmm." Ryoma simply hummed in response before lowing his lips to Yukimura's. Yukimura responded easily, pressing his lips back against the soft ones of his boyfriend. They pulled apart briefly, before smiling and returning to each other, not able to get enough. With a soft hum of pleasure, Ryoma climbed on to his buchou's lap, planting his knees on either side of Yukimura's hips. Responding to the change in position, Yukimura moved his hands, bring one to rest on Ryoma's defined hips and the other to tangle back into Ryoma's soft hair.

They stayed like that for a while, just kissing, enjoying the feeling of their lips moving softly together, before Ryoma's hands seemed to wander from their previous spots next to Yukimura's head. At first it was nothing dramatic, just Ryoma's right hand coming to rest on the side of Yukimura's neck, his thumb gently sliding along the soft column of skin there, causing Yukimura to hum in pleasure. Slowly, however, Ryoma's hands drifted lower until they reached the hem of his boyfriend's button up sleep top. Ryoma's toyed with the edge of the shirt for a little bit, just sipping his fingertips past the fabric to soothe along the small strip of skin that was now exposed.

"Ryoma." Yukimura pulled away from his boyfriend's soft lips, slightly shocked at Ryoma's actions. It wasn't the first time Yukimura had gone a little further than making out, after all you don't get to be eighteen without having a few times of fumbling around in the dark, but Ryoma had never tried to go any further with him than a few makeout sessions.

The moment Yukimura pulled away from his mouth, Ryoma moved on, letting his lips move to his boyfriend's sensitive neck, gently kissing at the skin there, before slowly working his way lower. Ryoma nudged the collar of Yukimura's shirt out of the way so he could have more access to Yukimura's delicate collar bones.

"Mmmm, Ryo- you have to sto-" Yukimura arched slightly under his boyfriend's hands as the slowly slide themselves up Yukimura's torso under his shirt. "Ryo."

Having satisfied his urge to kiss along Seiichi's skin, Ryoma quickly moved back up to his boyfriend's mouth to initiate another make-out session. He pressed his lips back to Yukimura's, capturing his boyfriend's soft moan.

"Seiichi." Ryoma breathed, not pulling fully away from Yukimura's lips.

"Ryo. We have to stop." Yukimura said quietly, his breaths coming in gasps like Ryoma's.

"In a minute." Ryoma replied before moving back to the addicting task of kissing.

* * *

"Ohayou, buchou!" Kirihara bounced into the sunny room, already dressing in his tennis uniform, his tennis bag slung over his shoulders. His loud voice seemed to wake the occupants of the room, causing Ryoma to let out a sleeping sound before pushing his head back into his preferred spot on his buchou's chest. It was then that Kirihara noticed that Yukimura was not the only one in the bed. "EH? ECHIZEN?"

At this point the rest of the team had filed into the room, all of them staring at the scene before them. The two boys were wrapped up in each other, with Ryoma resting against his buchou's chest, his arms locked across the older boys chest, and Yukimura, shirtless, with one hand buried in the younger boy's hair and the other resting on the arm Ryoma had slung over his chest.

"Hm?" Ryoma hummed as he blinked his eyes open. Upon noticing his teammates, Ryoma rolled his eyes before dropping his head back down, closing his eyes with hopes of getting more sleep. However, Yukimura, who had woken up at the sound of Kirihara's greeting, chuckled at his young boyfriend's antics and smoothed Ryoma's hair away from his forehead before leaning down to press a soft kiss on the exposed skin.

"Buchou! What's Echizen doing here?!" Kirihara stuttered out. "Oh, Kami! Did you deflower him? Buchou! You can't exert that much energy, especially right before your surgery! And in a hospital! Buchou, how could you!"

"Ayaka."

"I mean, sure it's sanitary enough, but still! He's just a kid!"

"Ayaka!" Yukimura raised his voice this time, causing Kirihara to finally see that his buchou was trying to get his attention. "If you'll notice, I'm the one without a shirt here, not Ryoma, so no, I did not "deflower" him, as you so delicately put it." Yukimura chuckled at his teammate frantic rant. He then turned to his cuddly boyfriend and gently shook him awake. "Ryo, time to wake up, you have to get ready for the tournament."

Ryoma gave a groan, before once again blinking his sleepy eyes open. "Sei. Five more minutes." Ryoma muttered, snuggling back in, ignoring Yukimura's soft laughter.

"Now, Ryo. You won't make it on time if you don't wake up now. Come on, love." Yukimura prodded, smiling as Ryoma let out another sleepy groan before rolling away slightly and stretching out his limbs.

"Fine." the boy groaned before dragging his feet off the bed, and sliding out of the warm covers. He walked over to his tennis back, and bent down to retrieve the things he would need to get ready.

"Good morning, everyone." Yukimura greeted as soon as he was sure his little lover would not climb back in bed and go back to sleep.

"Seichii-" Sanada started only to be cut off by a bright flash and the click of a camera shutter. The team turned to where Ryoma stood, shaking out a polaroid picture of his boyfriend, shirtless, sitting on the hospital bed, sleep rumpled and smiling.

"Ryo!" Yukimura exclaimed, frowning slightly at the thought of being caught off guard, especially with his shirt off.

"Ehhh, don't you think last night was a good memory, Seichii? I just wanted something to remember it by." Ryoma pouted cutely, knowing that it would get him out of trouble, and let him keep his picture.

Sure enough, Yukimura's expression soften, and a small smile touched his lips. "Go get ready, Ryo." he said softly.

"Hai." Ryoma walked over to the adjoining bathroom to change and brush his teeth.

"Seichii." Sanada said after a moment, drawing his attention back to him. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Looks like buchou is feelin' pretty good." Marui snickered from behind Jackal.

"Marui." Sanada reprimanded.

"Sorry." the red-head said, not sounding very sorry at all as he snapped his gum loudly.

"I'm feeling fine, Gen." Yukimura said smiling at the antics of his teammate. "Better than I have in days."

"And we can all see why that is." Kirihara muttered to Marui in the back of the group. Still, Sanada heard him.

"Kirihara. 5 laps around the hospital."

"But fuku-buchou! What if I trip on the unknown terrain?! What if I twist my ankle and can't play in the tournament? I'd have to forfeit and then the matches would have to go all the way to Echizen, and you know that it will be harder to beat Tezuka under a time limit! We'd be late for the surgery, and maybe even lose the tournament and-"

"Are you saying I wouldn't win against Tezuka?" Ryoma asked as he stepped out of the bathroom.

"Well-"

"Kirihara. 70 laps around the courts when we get back to Rikkaidai."

"Eh?!"

"Heh. Baka." Ryoma snarked at Kirihara's misery.

"Who are you calling baka, Baka!" Kirihara yelled back.

"Kirihara." Sanada attempted to intervene.

"You. Baka." Ryoma smirked as he walked over to his tennis back, putting everything away and pulling the bag over his shoulders.

"Echizen." Sanada tried again.

"Ne, Buchou! Echizen is being mean!" Kirihara pouted, causing Yukimura to just laugh at the hilarity of his team.

Sanada sighed, pressing his fingers to the bridge of his nose only to have Yanagi pass him a bottle of Tylenol.

"There's a 97% chance that you need this." Yanagi muttered as the chaos of the room continued when Niou and Marui jumped in on Kirihara, causing more wails of how unfair everyone was and threats against Ryoma, disrupting the otherwise peaceful morning in the hospital.

* * *

After a while the team said their goodbyes, wishing their captain luck in his surgery with promises to be present when he comes out of it. They walked out of the hospital and made their way over to the team bus that would be taking them all to the tournament. However, as they were all loading onto the bus they noticed Echizen walking away from them and further down the parking lot.

"Hey, Echizen! Where you going? The bus is right here." Kirihara called as if it was the most obviously thing ever.

"Good observation, Kirihara-sempai. However, since I brought myself here last night, I'll be driving myself to the tournament, so that way I don't have to leave my stuff here." Ryoma responded before continuing to walk over to a black and silver motorcycle that sat not very far away from the bus. He picked up the black helmet that sat on the bike's seat and pulled it onto his head, pushing the visor up and strapping the helmet on.

"Echizen, you own a motorcycle?!" Marui exclaimed, bouncing forward in excitement.

"You didn't think the limo takes me everywhere did you?" Ryoma smirked, knowing that that was exactly what they thought.

"I didn't even know you had your license!" Kirihara exclaimed.

"Echizen did live in America before this, right? It's only reasonable that he have a license." Yagyuu pointed out.

"Indeed. There was a 74% chance of Echizen having a license, however the statistics would have been higher had he not lived in New York." Yanagi supplied.

"That's why I have a bike instead of a car. Motorcycles are the easiest way to get around in New York." Ryoma said as he settled himself on the bike. "See you guys at the tournament." he called before snapping the visor back in place, starting the bike and taking off out of the parking lot.

* * *

"Seigaku, Fight-o!"

"Seigaku, FIGHT-O!"

"FIGHT-O! FIGHT-O! FIGHT-O!"

The chants rang through the air as Rikkaidai entered the tournament grounds. It seemed as if the unseeded team had developed a fairly large fan base. As the Rikkaidia team looked around the courts they notice that is wasn't just Seigaku students there. Hyotei stood proudly off to the left side of the courts, not really cheering, but chatting excitedly about the upcoming matches, Fudomine was close by as well, their captain missing as he underwent physical therapy. What surprised them however, were the presence of Josei Shonan, Rokkaku, Yamabuki, and even St. Rudolph.

The final tournament matches were always the most exciting to watch, but there had never been this many people at the tournament before.

"FIGHT-O! FIGHT-O! FIGHT-O!"

"Looks like a good turn out." Ryoma muttered as they walked onto the courts, lining up across the net from the Seigaku opponents.

"RIKKAIDAI! RIKKAIDAI!RIKKAIDAI!"

Their own student body began to chant back, determined to over power the Seigaku students.

"Captains shake hands." the official stated, watching as Sanada and Tezuka politely reach over and clasped their hands respectfully.

"Doubles 2 Niou/Yanagi Pair vs Inui/Kaidoh Pair. Take your courts."

* * *

It was no surprise that Yanagi and Niou came out as the winners, though it was a little surprising as to how long it took for that win to take place. Having both Yanagi and Inui out on the courts had been tough, both of them allowing their partners to take control of the first half of the game so they could analyze the data. After that it became a battle of data, one that Rikkiadia won out in the end.

However, the next game was even worse. While Marui and Jackal had strength and speed on their side, they were not as advanced as the Golden Pair seemed to be when it came to true Syncho. Having the ability to read each other perfectly, the Golden Pair came out as the victors of that match.

"Gomen." Marui murmured as he bowed to his team.

"They were stronger than we anticipated." Jackal said softly.

"No matter, no matter." Kirihara said as he walked passed his sempais, "The next match is mine, and there is no way I'll lose. Echizen won't even have to play today."

Kirihara walked out onto the court, swinging his racket arm around, loosening up the socket, before taking his place at the net to shake hands with the timid man named Takashi.

"Good luck." Takashi murmured, a small smile gracing his face as he extended his hand.

"As if I need it." Kirihara scoffed, offering a meager handshake. Takashi's face fell, and once his hand had been freed he reached over to pick up his racket.

"GREAT-O! YOU'RE GOING TO NEED ALL THE LUCK YOU CAN GET! I'M ON FIRE, BABY!"

"...what?"

* * *

"Game and Match, 7-5, Seigaku."

Kirihara collapsed on to his knees, not believing that he had just lost. He had tried everything, even going so far as to aiming for the man's powerful arm, hoping to stop the monstrous swings that Kirihara had been unable to return.

"Next match, Rikkaidai Sanada versus Seigaku Fuji. Approach the net."

"Fuku-buchou..." Kirihara said softly as Sanada walked by him.

"Enough, Kirihara. I'll finish this quickly." Sanada said as he walked towards the Seigaku tensai who waited at the net for him.

* * *

It was a struggle. One that lasted far longer than the team could afford. Sanada proved to be the victor by a two-point tie break. Fuji Syuusuke was truly a tensai, his counters were terrifying to go against, but Sanada had the strength and technique, he avoided situations that allowed Fuji to use his counters, striving for aces rather than rallies, yet he still almost lost, and it was time for them to go, if they wanted to be there when Yukimura came out.

"Next Match Seigaku's Tezuka versus Rikkaidai's Echizen."

"Echizen."

"Go." Ryoma said softly. He pulled off his jacket, passing it to Sanada. "Tell him that I'm bringing him a victory. Tell him that I'll make sure of it." Ryoma picked up his racket, gripping it in his left hand, before walking to the net. Rikkiadai watched as Ryoma shook the Seigaku captain's hand before winning the serve for himself.

"Sanada. We have to go." Yanagi said softly, placing his hand on his fuku-buchou's shoulder.

"Yes."

* * *

Ryoma panted as he scored another point. Tezuka Kunimitsu was truly a God among men in the tennis world. The Seigaku captain was currently in the lead, holding the game at a steady 4-5. Ryoma looked over to where the Seigaku captain hunched over his knees, panting just as hard as Ryoma. His Tezuka Zone had started to take it's toll, putting pressure on his recent rehabilitated elbow.

The two boys took another moment to try to catch their breath, to wipe the sweat off their faces and regain control of themselves. Suddenly, Ryoma smiled from his place at the baseline. He looked at Tezuka, happiness blooming over his face.

"Ne, Tezuka?" Ryoma called.

"Ah."

"Is tennis fun for you?" Ryoma asked.

"Fun?" Tezuka questioned.

"Fun." Ryoma responded. "It's been a while since I've had a match like this; since I've felt this kind of pressure. Reminds me of-"

"Please resume the game." the ref called, following the rules that stated the match must continue within a certain limit, or the point goes to the opponent.

"Ah. Well, nevermind." Ryoma smiled, he bounced the ball twice, before throwing the ball high and hitting it back to Tezuka at a nearly impossible speed. Tezuka couldn't even move as the ball slammed passed him.

Tezuka stared at the ball that now lay behind him, before turning back to the young sixteen year old across the courts from him. His eyes widened at the sight that greeted him.

A glow surrounded Ryoma, swirling around his body, emitting an aura of power. Echizen had activated Saiki Kanpatsu no Kiwami.

"This will be over quickly." Ryoma said softly. He tossed the ball high up again, swinging the racket with a loud smack.

* * *

"Game and match, 7-5 Rikkaidai!"

The stands erupted with cheers. Screams of triumph echoed throughout the skies. Ryoma walked to where Tezuka stood at the net. "I've have never played a better game." Tezuka said softly.

"Thank you." Ryoma responded reaching out to shake the captains hand. "I look forward to Nationals against Seigaku."

"We will be stronger then." Tezuka assured him.

"I'm counting on it."

* * *

"Gen?" Yukimura said softly as the antithetic wore off gradually.

"Seichii!"

"Buchou!"

"Buchou is awake! He's awake!"

"Enough." Sanada commanded, his hand reaching out to clasp Yukimura's. "Seichii."

"Gen. Gen, where's Ryoma?" Yukimura asked, his tired eyes surveying the team.

"Right here." Sanada responded, pulling Ryoma's jacket into Yukimura's sight. "He told me to let you know that he will be bringing home a win."

"And I always keep my promises." Ryoma said softly from the doorway. He had his tennis bag slung around his shoulders, and around his neck hung a gold medal, proclaiming him the winner of the tournament.

The room became chaos. His teammates jumped about, shouting and cheering.

"Echizen!"

"You won! You won! We're the champions!"

"Echizen!"

"Ryo."

It was Yukimura's soft spoken voice that cause Ryoma to disentangle himself from his celebrating teammates and push forward to his boyfriends hospital bed. "Seichii." Ryoma responded, before bending low to press his lips against his boyfriends.

As he pulled away he slipped his medal off his neck and gentle placed it around Yukimura's, letting the medal rest against his thin chest.

"Ryo."

"Nationals, here we come."

* * *

**A/n: So, it's been forever. Sorry. I want to thank everyone for the constant support through reviews. I had lost all interest in Prince of Tennis at one point, moving on to an unhealthy Harry Potter obsession, but recently I've gotten back into the wonderful world that is this fandom, and actually sat down and wrote this.**

**Anyway, you'll probably notice that the ages have changed in this chapter. Well that's mostly because I can't stand the idea of a twelve year old straddling and making out with his boyfriend. Besides, I went back and edited/rewrote previous chapters. There won't be major changes, but I try to make things flow better, I change everyone to being in high school, rather than middle school, I try to get a little more in-depth with the characters as well as the tennis matches, and I may even throw in a new scene or two. Regardless, you may want to look back over the story (you might want to do that anyway because of how long it's been since I posted.) after the new posts are made, just to check it out. However- the story won't be confusing if you don't go back over the new chapters, as long as you bare in mind that the AGES WILL BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.**

**On a more personal note, I'm still in cheerleading, through I cheer for my college now, and we are actually leave for Nationals on Wednesday. Last year we were 7th in the Nation, which if pretty good for being a tiny school. We are aiming higher this year. Unfortunately, I'm doing all of this with a fractured knee cap, so it makes things a little more difficult. I work five days a week, go to class five days a week, have practice five days a week, and plenty of homework, so updating is still an issue. However, I feel as though I can continue with this story now, having sorted somethings out with myself and how I want this story to go, so hopefully I won't have an issue keeping this thing updating.**

**Review because it reminds me that I need to update, and stay tuned for the somewhat re-write as well as new chapters.  
**

**-Ja.**


End file.
